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GOVERNOR  CHARLES  H.  BROUGH 

RETIRING   PRESIDENT 


DEMOCRACY 
IN   EARNEST 


SOUTHERN 

SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 

1916-1918 


EDITED  BY 

JAMES  E.  McCULLOCH 


SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON.  D.  C. 

1918 


THIS  BOOK 
)S  NOT  COPYRIGHTED 

It  is  published 

For  the  benefit  of  the  public.     Speakers  and 

writers  are  requested  to  aid  in  its  propaganda 

by  using  such  matter  as   suits  their  purpose, 

giving  proper  credit  to 

THE   SOUTHERN   SOCIOLOGICAL 
CONGRESS 


Press  of 

Benson  Printini;  Company 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


1 


/9/r 


BISHOP  THEODORE  D.  BRATTON 

PRESIDENT 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 


Owing  to  the  unusual  conditions  prevailing  during  the 
period  of  the  war,  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  did 
not  issue  a  report  in  1916  and  1917.  From  the  many  papers 
k2  -  read  at  the  last  three  conventions,  the  editor  has  tried  to 
«^  select,  impartially,  those  which,  combined  in  one  volume  of 
K  this  size,  would  express  most  satisfactorily  the  ideals  and 
g  work  that  the  Congress  desires  at  present  to  emphasize. 
3       The  exclusion  of  any  paper  should  not  be  taken  to  signify 

that  it  is  lacking  in  general  merit. 
5?  In  order  to  make  this  volume  as  popular  as  possible  and 

c3      to  keep  the  price  within  the  membership  fee  of  three  dollars, 
o      the  Governing  Board  ordered  that  the  ever-increasing  list  of 
members  be  omitted  from  this  report. 

Inasmuch  as  no  report  was  issued  during  the  two  years 
3      that    Governor    Brough    was    President,    his    photograph 
g       appears  in  the  frontispiece  of  this  book,  together  with  that 
o       of  the  present  President,  Bishop  Bratton. 
uj  The  Constitution  as  revised  at  Blue  Ridge  in  1917  is 

^      printed  for  the  first  time  herein. 
<  The  Editor. 

Washington,  D.  C,  December  8    1918. 


443B58 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Portrait  of  Governor  Charles  H.  Brough,  Retiring  President  of 

the  Congress. 
Portrait    of    Bishop    Theodore    D.    Bratton,    President    of    the 

Congress. 
Introductory    Note 3 

I.    Preliminary  9-40 

The  Great  Commandment 10 

Greetings  from  President  Wilson 11 

The  Program  of  the  Southera  Sociological  Congress. .  .       12 

Oscar  Bowling,  M.D. 
The  Objective  of  the  Congress 13 

Governor  C.  H.  Brough,  Ph.D. 
The  Task  of  Good  Citizenship 15 

Samuel  P.  Brooks,  LL.D. 
The     Present     Task     of     the     Southern     Sociological 

Congress   23 

Chairman  Albert  Sidney  Johnstone 
A  Challenge  to  the  New  Chivalry 26 

Secretary  J.  E.  McCulloch. 

II.    America's  Fight  for  Democracy 41-86 

The   Challenge  of  the  Congress 42 

The  Necessity  of  America's  Part  in  the  War 43 

Professor  J.  A.  B.  Shearer 
The  Call  from  the  Firing  Line 48 

Hon.  Albert  Sidney  Johnson,  M.C. 
America's  Answer  to  the  German  Challenge 54 

Stockton  Axson,  Litt.D. 
The  Moral  Causes  of  the  War 62 

Rev.  Charles  S.  Macfarland,  D.D.,  Ph.D. 
The  Moral  Aims  of  the  War 73 

Rev.  Frederick  Lynch,  D.D. 
America — Peacemaker  or  Pacemaker? 76 

Charles  Zueblin,  Ph.D. 
The  Problem  of  War  and  the  Program  of  the  Leag^ue 

to  Enforce  Peace 79 

Frank  J.  Klingberg,  Ph.D. 

III.    Health  for  All 87-178 

Healthgrams    ; 88 

The  State  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health 89 

Seale  Harris,  M.D. 
Some   Objections  to  the  Fee   System  in   the   Practice 

of  Medicine 95 

Robert  S.  Hyer,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

Some  Evils  of  Self-Medication 102 

Isadore  Dyer,  M.D. 


DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

PAGE 

The  Marriage  Health  Certificate 107 

Oscar  Dowling,  M.D. 
Maintaining    a    Proper    Bacteriological    and    Chemical 

Standard  for  Drinking  Water 113 

W.  H.  Seemann,  M.D. 
The  Evolution  of  the  Trained  Nurse 117 

Miss  Mary  M.  Riddle,  R.N. 
Housing  in   Preventing  Disease 125 

R.  S.  Creel,  M.D. 
Protection  Against  Bad  Air 132 

Hon.  Charles  Saville 
The  Prevention  of  Blindness 139 

Hon,  John  E.  Ray 
Treatment  of  the  Insane  Outside  of  Hospitals 145 

J.  H.  Fox,  M.D. 
Prevalence  and  Prevention  of  Malaria 151 

R.  H.  Von  Ezdorf,  M.D. 
The   Fight  Against  Tuberculosis 155 

C.  J.  Hatfield,  M.D. 
The  Mortality  from  Cancer  in  the  Southern  States...      158 

Frederick  L.  Hoffman,  M.D. 
The  Peril  of  Venereal  Diseases. . .'. 168 

William  F.  Snow,  M.  D. 
Keening  the  Soldier  Fit  to  Fight 174 

Major  Bascom  Johnson 

IV.    Justice  for  All 179-206 

The  Program  of  the  Master  Workman 180 

Vitalizing  the   Law 181 

Judge  W.  B.  Turner 
Mob  Violence— An  Enemy  of  Both  Races 185 

W.  O.  Scroggs,  Ph.D. 
The  Causes,  Consequences,  and  Cure  of  Mob  Violence.  .      191 

Charles  M.  Bishop,  D.D. 
Race  Distinctions  Versus  Race  Discriminations 201 

Judge  Gilbei't  T.  Stephenson 

V.    Work  for  All 207-242 

A  Creed  and  a  Crusade 208 

Letter  from  Hon.  W.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor. . .     209 
Labor  Values  Destroyed  by  Disease 211 

Josiah  Morse,  Ph.D. 
The  Duty  of  Southern  Labor  During  the  War 219 

President  Robert  R.  Moton 
Labor's  Challenge  to  Democracy 229 

Hon.  P'rank  Morrison 
An  Open  Door  to  Industry  on  the  Basis  of  Efficiency. . .     234 

Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

VI.    The  Child,  the  Woman,  and  the  Future  Nation.  . .  .243-278 

The  Cry  of  the  Children 244 

The  Modem  Orphanage  in  the  South 245 

Rev.  M.  L.  Kesler,  D.D. 


CONTENTS  7 

PAGE 

The  School  as  a  Focus  of  Disease 251 

Professor  E.  Godbold 

Responsibility  for  Health  in  Public  Schools 257 

Mrs.  Helena  Holley 

Teaching  Health  in  the  Public  Schools 262 

Professor  James  P.  Faulkner 
The   Child   and    Heredity 2G9 

Rev.  Richard  W.  Hogue,  D.D. 

VII.     Life  More  Abundant  for  All 279-294 

The  New  Era 280 

The  Abolition  of  Poverty 281 

Rabbi  Rudolph  I.  Coffee,  Ph.D. 
The   Value  of  the   Social   Worker   to  the   Community 

at  Large 284 

Mr.  Charles  H.   Patterson 

Work  for  the  Handicapped 287 

Miss  Elizabeth  Oilman 

Policemen  as  Welfare  Workers 290 

Commissioner  D.  Hiden  Ramsey 

VIII.     Temperance  for  the  Self-Governed 295-316 

The  Great  Enemy  of  Labor 296 

Alcohol's   Health   Toll 297 

Miss  Carolyn  Geisel,  M.D. 

Sociological  Aspects  of  the  Alcoholic  Problem 305 

T.  D.  Crothers,  M.D. 
Some  Phases  of  the  World-Wide  Prohibition  Movement 

and  Its  Relation  to  Christian  Citizenship 314 

Hon,  E.  H.  Cherrington 

IX.     Negro  Welfare  and  Race  Relations 317-374 

The  Social  Program  of  the  Congress 318 

Introductory  Statement  at  Race  Relations  Section....     319 

James  H.  Dillard,  D.Litt.,  LL.D. 
The    Religious    Life    of    the    Negi'o    and    Its    Bearing 

on  Health   321 

Professor  W.  H.  Holloway 
The  Negro  Church  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health .  . .     328 
Rev.  Richard  Carroll,  D.D. 

The  Negro  Home  and  the  Future  of  the  Race 334 

Mrs.  Booker  T.  Washington 
Secret  Societies  as  Factors  in  the  Social  and  Economic  .—^ 

Life  of  the  Negro [  342  / 

Professor  Monroe  N.  Work  ^"-^ 

111  Health,  Narcotics,  and  Lawlessness  Among  Negroes     350 

Hon.  J.  L.  Sutton 

The  Play  Life  of  Negro  Boys  and  Girls 353 

Rev.  A.  M.  Trawick 

Housing  and  Community  Health  Among  Negroes 362 

Fayette  A.  McKenzie,  Ph.D.  \^ 


;  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

PAGE 

What    Can    the    Church    Do    to    Promote    Good    Will 

Between  the  Races? 366 

Bishop  George  W.  Clinton,  D.D. 
Righting  Racial  Wrongs  and  Making  Democracy  Safe.     372 

Dean  W.  F.  Tillett 

X,    The  Church  Efficient  in  Saving  Life 375-408 

What  of  the  Church? 376 

The  Minister  as  a  Health  Propagandist 377 

Professor  Charles  S.  Gardner,  D.D. 
The    Point   of   Explosion    Between   the    Spiritual   and 

the  Economic  382 

Rev.  F.  M.  Crouch 
The  Preacher  and  Physician  Yokefellows  in  the  Health 

Campaign 389 

Professor  J.  L.  Kesler,  Ph.D. 
The  Church  as  the  Conserver  of  Human  Life 395 

Father  John  D.  Foulkes 
The  Country  Church  and  Human  Life  More  Abundant     399 

Rev.  J.  A.  Hornbeck 
The  Church  Organized  for  Social  Efficiency 404 

Rev.  Warren  H.  Wilson,  D.D.,  Ph.D. 

XL    Organization  409 

Organization  of  the  Congress 410 

Constitution  and   By-Laws  of  the   Southern   Sociolog- 
ical Congress 411 

Index  to  Speakers,  Writers,  and  Officers 414 

Index  to  Subjects 415 


I.    PRELIMINARY. 


The  Great  Commandment 
Greetings  from  President  Wilson 
The  Program  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress 
The  Objective  of  the  Congress 
The  Task  of  Good  Citizenship 

The  Present  Task  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Con- 
gress 
A  Challenge  to  the  New  Chivalry 


THE  GREAT  COMMANDMENT 

A  STUDENT  of  the  Law  came  forward  to  test  Jesus 
with  a  question. 

"Teacher,"  he  said,  "what  must  I  do  if  I  am  to 
'gain  immortal  life'?" 

"What  is  said  in  the  Law?"  answered  Jesus. 
"What  do  you  read  there?" 

His  reply  was :  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind:  and  thy 
fellow  man  as  much  as  thyself." 

"You  have  answered  right,"  said  Jesus;  "do  that, 
and  you  shall  live." 

But  the  man,  wanting  to  justify  himself,  said  to 
Jesus:  "But  what  is  meant  by  my  'fellow  man'?" 

Jesus  replied :  "A  man  was  once  going  down  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho  when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of 
robbers,  who  stripped  him  of  everything  and  beat 
him,  and  went  away,  leaving  him  half  dead.  As  it 
chanced,  a  priest  was  going  down  by  that  road.  He 
saw  the  man,  but  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  A 
Levite,  too,  did  the  same:  he  came  up  to  the  spot, 
but,  when  he  saw  the  man,  passed  by  on  the  other 
side.  But  a  Samaritan,  traveling  that  way,  came 
upon  the  man,  and,  when  he  saw  him,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion.  He  went  to  him  and  bound  up  his 
wounds,  dressing  them  with  oil  and  wine,  and  then 
put  him  on  his  own  mule,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn, 
and  took  care  of  him.  The  next  day  he  took  out  four 
shillings  and  gave  them  to  the  innkeeper.  'Take  care 
of  him,'  he  said,  'and  whatever  more  you  may  spend 
I  will  myself  repay  you  on  my  way  back.'  Now 
which  of  those  three  men,"  asked  Jesus,  "seems  to 
you  to  have  acted  like  a  fellow  man  to  him  who  fell 
into  the  robbers'  hands?" 

"The  one  that  took  pity  on  him,"  was  the  answer. 

"Go,"  said  Jesus,  "and  do  the  same  yourself." 


Qreetings 

,         from 

PRESIDENT  WILSON 


Will  you  not  be  kind  enough  to  convey  my 
warm  personal  greetings 


to  th« 


Southern  Sociological  Congress 

And  express  my  very  sincere  intere^  in  the  important 

conferences  it  is  holding  and  my  confident 

hope  that  the  be^  sort  of  co-operation 

in   the    great  common  aims    of 

the   country   at  this   time 

may  issue  from  these 

conferences? 


THE  PROGRAM  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

OSCAR  DOWLING,   M.D.,   PRESIDENT  OF  LOUISIANA  STATE 
BOARD  OF  HEALTH,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

Eight  j^ears  ago  one  winter's  evening  in  the  home 
of  an  Alabama  friend  I  outlined  a  dream  of  an  organi- 
zation which  would  correlate  and  coordinate  the  activi- 
ties of  social,  medical,  and  philanthropic  organizations. 
My  friends  listened,  but  condemned  the  dream  as  too 
Utopian  for  a  practical  age.  Perhaps  during  that  same 
winter  in  the  library  of  a  Nashville  home  the  same 
idea  was  taking  form.  And  now  it  is  here  in  fulfill- 
ment, a  working  organization,  thrilling  with  life  and 
high  and  noble  purposes  because  a  generous,  philan- 
thropic, and  Utopian-minded  patriot  believed  it  a  prac- 
tical, constructive  plan  fraught  with  tremendous  im- 
port to  human  welfare. 

The  program  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress 
comprehends  constructive  activities  in  twelve  problems 
pertinent  to  social  conditions.  Prevention  and  protec- 
tion are  its  watchwords — prevention  of  vice,  crime, 
disease,  and  moral  degradation,  and  protection  of  the 
weak,  ignorant,  defective,  and  those  who  from  racial 
disability  are  unable  to  help  themselves — these  are 
the  principles  of  its  creed.  To  attain  its  purposes  the 
Congress  invites,  even  urges,  all  organized  bodies  of 
men  and  women  engaged  in  the  service  of  humanity 
to  unite  in  one  great  band,  a  coordinating  group,  each 
a  help  and  an  inspiration  to  the  other,  and  all  working 
toward  the  end  that  social  evils  may  be  eliminated  and 
social  good  substituted. 


THE  OBJECTIVE  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

HON.  C.  H.  BROUGH,  PH.D.,  GOVERNOR  OF  ARKANSAS  AND  EX- 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  with  approximately 
three  thousand  members  representing  the  best  thought  of 
the  New  South,  has  a  very  definite  mission  to  perform, 
that  of  awakening  a  higher  sense  of  civic  consciousness 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  Southland,  preach- 
ing the  crusade  of  the  new  chivalry  of  health  and  sanity  in 
dealing  with  every  vital  problem  of  civic  and  social  welfare, 
and  supplementing  the  "pew  religion"  of  the  different 
creeds  represented  by  the  "do  religion"  of  twentieth-cen- 
tury efficiency.  If  the  motto  of  the  eighteenth  century  was 
liberty,  and  that  of  the  nineteenth  equality,  then  the  motto 
of  the  twentieth  century  is  certainly  service. 

"What  language  did  Christ  speak? 
O  sages,  leave  your  Syriac  and  your  Greek, 
For  each  heart  holds  the  answer  that  you  seek: 
Christ  spoke  the  universal  language — love." 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is  translating  mod- 
em life  and  progress  in  terms  of  love.  It  is  seeking  to  solve 
modern  social  problems  in  the  light  of  love,  and  it  is  her- 
alding a  new  chivalry  of  love  rather  than  the  ancient  chiv- 
alry that  "might  makes  right  and  strength  is  triumphant." 
Its  noble  Foundress,  Mrs.  Anna  Russell  Cole,  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  its  splendid  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  E.  McCulloch,  its  great 
Presidents,  who  have  held  positions  of  great  educational  and 
official  responsibility,  and  its  consecrated  membership  have 
all  been  animated  through  the  five  years  of  its  eventful  and 
useful  history  by  the  ideal  that  has  reverberated  down  the 
aisles  of  the  ages,  "We  are  our  brother's  keeper."  Whether 
it  be  a  study  of  the  race  problem  in  the  spirit  of  the  Man 
of  Galilee;  or  the  study  of  the  problem  of  the  dependents, 
the  defectives,  and  delinquents,  who  demand  of  statesmen 
and  economists  their  wisest  thought  and  most  careful  treat- 
ment ;  or  the  study  of  our  great  industrial  problem,  with  its 
forty  million  workers  in  the  United  States  of  America; 


14  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

or  a  scientific  study  of  the  effects  of  alcoholism,  apart  from 
political  prejudice  and  factional  bickerings,  upon  the  physi- 
cal, mental,  and  moral  constitution,  causing  as  it  does  25 
per  cent  of  our  poverty,  37  per  cent  of  our  pauperism,  and 
80  per  cent  of  our  crime,  and  demanding  each  year  its 
tribute  of  American  young  men,  even  as  the  Minotaur  of 
Crete  demanded  each  year  its  tribute  of  Athenian  maidens; 
or  a  study  of  the  far-reaching  problems  of  health  by  experts, 
who  tell  us  that  forty  per  cent  of  our  diseases  are  preventa- 
ble, that  the  economic  wastage  of  sickness  in  our  country 
amounts  to  the  tremendous  total  of  $1,250,000,000  each  year, 
and  that  from  600,000  to  1,000,000  in  the  South  alone  have 
chills  and  fevers  each  year  due  to  unsanitary  conditions 
which  germinate  the  carriers  of  disease,  that  the  hookworm, 
pellagra,  trachoma,  and  cancer  are  destined  to  become  as 
dreadful  scourges  as  tuberculosis  unless  mastered  by  pre- 
ventive rather  than  corrective  medicine,  that  a  large  per 
cent  of  the  $500,000,000  spent  by  the  American  people  on 
medicines  each  year  is  wasted  on  quack  nostrums,  contain- 
ing frequently  a  high  percentage  of  alcohol  as  an  artificial 
tonic,  that  the  loss  of  nine  days  in  each  working  year  by 
each  of  the  40,000,000  laborers  of  the  United  States  could 
be  materially   reduced   by   shorter   working  hours,   better 
wages,  and  more  sanitary  working  conditions;  or  whether 
our  Congress  is  seeking  to  better  educational  conditions  in 
the  South,  six  of  whose  States  rank  below  the  fortieth  mark 
among  the  forty-eight  States — this  band  of  searchers  after 
the  truth,  these  social  engineers  and  statesmen  of  the  South, 
are  exemplifying  the  divine  law  and  promise,  "Ye  shall  know 
the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  m.ake  you  free."    We  are  going 
out  as  missionaries  to  the  living,  not  to  the  dying,  believing 
that  social  consciousness  is  as  spiritual  as  individual  con- 
sciousness ;  for  if  a  man  love  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath 
seen,  how  shall  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen?    As  sons 
and  daughters  of  an  eager  and  buoyant  South,  we  are  going 
forth  as  twentieth-century  crusaders,  armed  with  scholar- 
ship, enthusiasm,  and  service,  with  faith,  hope,  and  charity, 
not  to  rescue  a  tomb,  but  to  redeem  a  people. 


THE  TASK  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  15 

THE  TASK  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP 

SAMUEL  P.  BROOKS,  LL.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  BAYLOR  UNIVERSITY 
AND  RETIRING  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  CONGRESS,  WACO,  TEX. 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  has  a  progressive 
program.  Its  tasks  are  never  fully  performed,  for  all  social 
growth  is  a  series  of  advances  by  reckoning  and  test.  Its 
organizers  and  promoters,  however,  are  not  discouraged  at 
the  bigness  of  its  difficulties,  but  rather  emboldened  to 
greater  efforts. 

The  task  of  the  social-minded  citizen  is  not  to  go  barn- 
storming as  a  lurid  reformer,  but  rather  to  watch  and  wait 
and  work.  Patience  is  for  him  a  virtue,  yet  patience  must 
not  lull  him  to  sleep.  He  must  know  wrong  where  he  sees 
it,  and  correct  errors  when  they  arise.  He  is  never  an 
iconoclast,  but  a  constructive  builder.  He  caters  to  no  class, 
but  seeks  the  elevation  of  all  men.  He  reveres  the  past,  and 
uses  it  to  throw  light  on  the  future. 

The  aim  of  our  Congress  is  not  to  stand  as  protagonist 
of  any  single  creed.  We  are  not  politicians  and  seek  the 
promotion  of  no  particular  men ;  yet  we  would  see  legislation 
shot  through  and  through  with  the  moral  quality  of  Christ. 

APPEAL  TO  ALL  MEN 

We  make  our  appeal  to  no  single  class.  We  approach  all 
men  alike — not  the  rich  or  poor,  not  the  employer  or  em- 
ployee, not  the  consumer  or  producer,  one  against  the  other. 
We  come  to  the  farmer,  with  whose  labor  we  are  familiar. 
We  know  his  love  of  home  and  family  and  country.  We 
come  to  the  day  laborer,  by  whose  side  we  have  toiled  in  the 
ditches  and  on  the  railroad  track.  We  know  his  habits  of 
life  and  his  longings  for  the  comforts  of  a  home.  We  come 
to  the  train  or  engine  man,  who  must  be  much  away  from 
home  amid  the  constant  dangers  from  which  he  never  re- 
coils. We  know  his  heart  yearnings  are  that  wife  and  chil- 
dren may  have  those  comforts  and  opportunities  belonging 
to  the  neighbors  near  whom  they  live.  We  come  to  the 
clerks,  who  daily  tread  the  paths  that  lead  to  drudgery  or 


16  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

to  wealth.  We  know  their  faith  in  their  employers  and  their 
dream  of  a  better  day.  We  come  to  the  blacksmith  and  the 
wheelwright,  the  lawyer  and  the  preacher,  the  cattleman 
and  the  truck  grower.  We  come  to  them  all,  for  we  believe 
in  them  all. 

Governments  do  not  exist  for  themselves,  nor  do  political 
parties.  Governments  and  political  parties  exist  for  the 
people  whom  they  serve.  And  men  are  coming  to  see  that 
policies  of  government  cannot  ignore  the  moral  quality  of 
the  action  by  which  results  are  attained. 

INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  ALL  MEN 

We  have  learned  that  there  can  be  no  modem  human 
progress  without  great  sums  of  money  brought  together  to 
aid  in  doing  the  world's  great  work.  We  shall  therefore 
do  what  we  can  to  promote  all  business  and  manufacturing 
industries  without  regard  to  the  size  of  the  business,  but 
wholly  with  regard  to  their  treatment  of  the  people  who 
make  their  enterprises  possible  by  labor,  by  investment,  or 
by  consumption  of  their  products. 

In  the  march  of  industrial  affairs,  however,  farmers  and 
mechanics  have  not  had  a  square  deal.  The  duties  of  work- 
ingmen  have  kept  them  out  of  hurrying  throngs,  out  of  the 
market  places  of  great  profits,  out  of  the  halls  and  lobbies  of 
legislation.  They  have  too  often  been  misrepresented  by 
men  in  legislative  halls  ignorant  of  their  real  needs,  or  will- 
ful and  insolent  in  disdaining  them.  This  is  not  true  of 
manufacturing  and  banking  industries,  whose  leaders  have 
the  leisure  to  study,  the  money  for  travel,  and  the  financial 
ability  to  represent  themselves  in  person  or  by  proxy. 

We  believe  that  the  profits  out  of  the  products  of  labor 
and  capital  should  be  equitably  divided.  Many  corporations, 
seeing  this,  have  done  so  voluntarily;  others,  not  seeing  it 
and  not  influenced  by  public  opinion,  should  be  made  to  do 
it  even  by  law. 

We  also  desire  to  do  what  we  can  to  bring  about  arbitral 
settlements  of  all  labor  and  capital  disputes,  to  the  end  that 
both  may  prosper  and  neither  lose  time  or  money. 


THE  TASK  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  17 

CHILD  LABOR 

Can  we  be  careless  of  the  two  million  children  under  six- 
teen years  of  age  that  must  work  for  a  living?  Are  we 
unmoved  to  know  that  in  some  places  nearly  one-half  of  the 
children  between  ten  and  thirteen  must  work  for  wages?  Do 
we  forget  that  child-bearing  mothers  must  be  protected 
from  the  foul  air  and  dangerous  occupations  in  which  so 
many  of  them  now  must  work? 

For  nine  years  the  National  Child  Labor  Committee  has 
tried  in  vain  to  get  Congressional  relief.  We  want  to  help 
them. 

EVERY  CITIZEN  A  SOCIAL  WORKER 

What  is  social  service?  An  act  done  for  the  benefit  of 
the  community.  Does  it  deal  with  creeds  or  with  lives? 
Does  it  espouse  theoretical  dogmas,  or  does  it  seek  to  propa- 
gate that  which  saves  labor,  develops  mind,  heartens  mo- 
rality, destroys  filth,  keeps  out  flies  and  mosquitoes,  digs  up 
weeds,  destroys  or  burns  hurtful  waste,  or  does  anything 
else  that  enlarges  the  sum  total  of  individual  or  general 
happiness?  All  these  things  it  does  and  more.  It  will  do 
yet  more  as  eyes  are  opened  upon  the  needs  and  achieve- 
ments of  social  living. 

Is  the  need  or  opportunity  for  social  service  peculiar  to 
the  South?  Emphatically,  no.  The  South  and  her  cities, 
the  more  the  pity,  are  not  essentially  different  from  other 
places. 

Social  service  for  our  country  involves  what  we  eat,  how 
it  is  prepared,  how  delivered  to  the  kitchen,  and  how  served. 
It  involves  what  we  drink,  the  source,  the  quality,  the 
amount,  the  method  of  transmission,  and  the  methods  of 
public  drinking.  It  involves  how  we  live  in  our  homes, 
whether  comfortable  or  uncomfortable;  in  rooms  screened 
or  unscreened,  ventilated  or  stuffy.  It  cannot  ignore  the 
germ-laden  dust  of  the  streets,  the  lack  of  sanitation  in 
kitchens  and  lavatories.  It  must  not  pass  by  the  needs  of 
the  children,  the  babies  of  the  poor,  the  child-bearing  moth- 
ers who  must  work  to  live.  Social  service  in  the  South  is 
2 


18  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

not  unmindful  that  though  some  of  her  citizens  may  live  in 
houses  modern  and  equipped  for  comfort  and  health,  the 
cook  or  the  nurse  often  comes  from  a  home  in  quarters 
shamefully  bad,  that  the  weekly  washing  is  sometimes 
brought  home  apparently  clean,  but  in  fact  germ-laden  with 
smallpox,  tuberculosis,  typhoid,  and  the  like,  the  neglect  of 
which  is  a  folly  and  a  crime. 

Social  service  involves  the  bodies,  minds,  and  spirits  of 
our  citizenship.  Some  things  it  can  study ;  for  other  things 
it  can  only  prescribe. 

Germs  of  filth  transmitted  by  any  means  respect  no  per- 
sons. They  enter  the  bodies  of  Democrats  as  well  as  Re- 
publicans, of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  of  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
of  infidels  as  well  as  devout  Christian  believers.  None  of 
us  may  preach  the  gospel  of  the  past,  or  declare  the  indi- 
vidualism of  Thomas  Jefll'erson  as  antitoxins  of  disease^ 

Social  service  is  demanded  in  the  care  and  upkeep  of 
public  buildings.  It  notes  that  many  a  courthouse  in  the 
South  is  little  better  than  a  pigpen,  as  evidenced  by  the  free- 
dom in  which  men  expectorate  on  the  floors  and  walls,  and 
whose  toilets  are  usually  bad  beyond  words  and  shocking 
to  every  sense  of  decency.  Jury  rooms  and  beds  upon  which 
jurors  are  required  to  sleep  are  often  covered  with  dirt  and 
reeking  with  vermin,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  some  men 
will  lie  to  avoid  jury  service.  It  is  no  excuse  for  county 
authorities  to  say  that  the  fault  lies  in  the  janitors,  many 
of  whom  are  doing  the  best  they  know,  for  in  some  places 
these  men  are  political  "have-beens"  or  "never-weres," 
shambling  around  in  the  last  stages  of  political  bummery, 
unable  to  see  filth  with  magnifying  glasses,  and  ignorant  of 
its  proper  disposition  even  if  by  some  chance  they  should 
stumble  over  it. 

Social  service  observes  whether  criminals  rot  in  jail,  not 
only  on  moral  grounds  of  responsibility  not  to  kill,  but  on 
prophylactic  grounds  of  their  influence  when  they  come  out. 
Innocent  men  are  often  thrown  into  jails  or  prisons.    Pas- 


THE  TASK  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  19 

sions  of  hate  cause  deeds  that  incarcerate  fathers  whose 
families  thereafter  pay  the  dreadful  price  of  diseases  con- 
tracted. 

Do  Southerners  care  if  some  anaemic,  senile  spinster  is 
willing-  to  breathe  polluted  air  with  schoolrooms  fetid  with 
body  smells  and  none  of  God's  good  air  available  for  the 
lungs  of  youngsters  yearning  for  the  out-of-doors?  Does  it 
matter  if  our  children  are  guarded  well  as  to  all  these  things 
in  our  homes  when  they  must  sometimes  in  public  or  private 
schools  sit  by  children  whose  eyes  have  trachoma  or  on 
whose  breath  the  white  plague  hovers?  Into  these  schools 
the  medical  inspectors  should  go,  and  into  their  homes  the 
district  nurses  should  enter  to  observe,  report,  teach,  and 
help  those  most  needy  of  saving  knowledge.  Happily  there 
is  marked  improvement  over  what  we  endured  in  the  past. 

Let  us  note  in  the  South  the  condition  of  many  railroad 
station  houses  in  our  cities.  In  the  winter  months,  when 
travel  is  heavy  and  when  doors  and  windows  are  kept  tightly 
closed,  and  people  are  crowded  (men,  women,  and  little  chil- 
dren, some  at  the  breast) ,  the  air  is  suffocating.  There  is 
a  combination  smell  of  tobacco,  whisky,  cold  lunches,  old 
fruit,  and  filthy  children.  The  wash  rooms  outwit  descrip- 
tion. Probably  during  this  season  of  travel,  and  under  such 
fruitful  environment,  more  contagious  and  infectious  dis- 
eases run  riot  than  at  any  other  time.  Have  the  people  no 
rights?  And  shall  the  railroads  have  no  protection?  Is 
ignorance  to  prevail  ?  Is  greed  for  profits  the  only  standard  ? 
Is  sense  to  yield  to  the  fetish  of  liberty  and  shall  death  take 
the  weak  while  a  few  of  us  survive  because  we  have  lungs 
and  hides  like  African  hippopotami?  Let  no  one  doubt  the 
social  ultimatum  that  the  fit  will  survive,  but  let  all  remem- 
ber that  the  process  is  exceedingly  slow  and  the  cost  of 
human  life  ought  not  be  so  great.  There  is  a  better  way. 
Moreover  the  fit  must  exercise  the  force  of  law  to  protect 
against  the  unfit.  Let  courage  consort  with  sense,  if  society 
shall  outwit  preventable  disease  and  abolish  many  needless 
dangers. 


20  DEMOCRACT   IN  EARNEST 

NEEDS  AT  HOME 

There  are  thousands  of  good  people  who  want  to  do  good. 
They  are  looking,  however,  in  distant  places  to  find  their 
field  of  labor.  They  do  not  see  the  opportunity  at  home  or 
near  by  them.  They  do  not  know  that  in  the  field  of  social 
service  God  can  be  served  and  glorified  as  well  as  in  dis- 
tinctively church  or  other  religious  work.  Of  course,  some 
undertrained,  supersensitive  religious  souls  will  be  shocked 
at  such  worldly  doctrines  and  they  will  cry  out.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  in  all  the  world's  history  human  prog- 
ress has  been  held  back  by  those  bound  fast  to  dogmas  of 
religion  or  politics,  and  who  would  not,  or  could  not,  see 
that  Christ  pleaded  for  the  life  and  health  of  the  people 
more  than  he  did  for  the  sacraments  of  his  Church. 

Let  the  preachers  tell  of  iieaven  and  the  way  thereto, 
but  let  them  tell  also  of  life  and  how  to  magnify  its  useful- 
ness to  others  here. 

Let  the  teachers  lead  the  way  to  the  laboratories  and  fear 
not  to  confuse  the  Almighty.  He  has  secrets  yet  for  men  to 
find,  and  often  the  searcher  for  his  truths  will  find  the  Mas- 
ter Mind  in  his  handiwork. 

Let  parents  bring  children  into  the  world,  but  let  moth- 
ers know  that  they  will  die  if  the  little  lumps  of  helplessness 
are  left  unaided  against  disease  and  ignorance  and  injustice. 
Is  there  no  way  for  club  and  church  women  to  aid  their 
municipalities?  Let  them  point  the  way  to  business  men 
absorbed  in  commerce  too  deep  to  see  a  germ  of  disease,  a 
process  of  crime,  or  a  blight  of  sin. 

Let  editors  tell  out  the  truths  which  their  large  reading 
reveals  and  their  large  opportunities  invite.  Let  them  help 
create  public  sentiment.  Let  them  keep  the  laws  before  the 
people  and  charge  the  responsibility  to  the  guilty  ones. 

Let  city  commissions  and  chambers  of  commerce  be  as 
careful  about  ridding  their  own  cities  of  disease  and  crime 
as  they  are  to  get  into  them  factories  and  conventions  and 
whatever  else  begets  or  beglories  gold. 

Let  our  state,  county,  and  city  departments  of  health  be 
in  the  hands  of  intelligent  men  and  have  the  support  of  all 


THE  TASK  OF  GOOD  CITIZENSHIP  21 

good  people.  The  laws  for  these  departments  are  totally 
inadequate  and  the  funds  too  small  to  care  for  the  needs  of  a 
growing  population  like  ours.  Too  frequently  these  depart- 
ments are  presided  over  by  men  who  could  scarcely  make  a, 
living  at  their  medical  practice,  and  they  get  their  appoint- 
ments by  cheap  toadyism  and  political  pull.  However,  once 
in,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  public  to  help  them.  In  nearly  every 
case  they  do  the  best  they  know,  and  in  nearly  all  cases  they 
know  more,  and  ask  much  more  of  us,  than  we  are  will- 
ing to  do. 

There  should  be  proper  Federal  and  State  laws  on  vital 
statistics.  Proper  record,  under  heavy  penalty  for  neglect, 
should  be  required  of  physician,  midwife,  nurse,  or  under- 
taker for  every  birth  or  death.  Likewise,  no  communicable 
disease  should  go  unrecorded  by  the  physician  in  charge. 
This  should  include  the  rich  and  poor,  the  white  and  black. 
No  exceptions  should  be  made  in  this  bookkeeping  of 
humanity. 

It  is  time  the  fossilized  system  of  segregated  vice  should 
be  abolished  and  a  single  standard  of  morals  for  men  and 
women  set  up.  It  will  take  courage  to  do  this,  and  time 
must  elapse  in  the  process.  Public  opinion  moves  slowly, 
but  happily  it  moves. 

The  fact  cries  to  heaven  that  often  while  rural  people 
beg  the  government  to  rid  their  cattle  of  ticks,  their  horses 
of  charbon,  and  their  hogs  of  cholera,  they  appear  ignorant 
or  indifferent  to  the  fact  that  hotbeds  of  vice  win  the  credu- 
lous and  passionate  country  boys.  City  booze  joints  are 
worse  for  country  boys  than  ticks  for  country  cattle.  Segre- 
gated vices  are  the  city  sore  spots  which  send  into  virtuous 
homes  venereal  diseases  to  blast  the  health  of  future  wives 
and  mothers,  the  result  of  the  sins  of  wayward  young  men 
whose  wild  oats  the  public  condoned.  Segregated  prostitu- 
tion is  worse  than  charbon  or  hog  cholera.  Segregation  of 
male  prostitutes  would  count  far  more  than  segregation  of 
female  prostitutes. 


22  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

THE  AMERICAN  SPIRIT 

Governments  cannot  create  happiness,  but  they  may 
clear  away  that  which  hinders  the  development.  Govern- 
ments cannot  make  love  and  purity  and  honesty  and  broth- 
erly kindness,  but  g:overnments  may  protect  the  individual 
and  society  while  the  people  get  schools  and  churches  and 
home^  and  clothes  and  food  and  whatever  else  helps  to  the 
life  that  ought  to  be. 

But  ive  call  upon  the  citizens  of  the  South  to  remember 
that  ive  ivill  never  get  out  of  life  or  out  of  governments  more 
than  we  jnit  into  them.  We  remind  them  that  much  is  ex- 
pected of  those  who  have  much,  and  that  no  7nan  has  a  right 
to  throw  off  on  good  citizenship  because  he  is  poor.  Our 
fathers  taught  the  way. 

I  know  a  motorman  who  for  twenty  years  has  been  on 
the  same  run.  He  is  loved  and  respected  by  all  the  men, 
women,  and  children,  because  of  his  uniform  kindness  and 
courtesy  to  them.  He  carries  a  smile  of  good  morning  to 
every  passenger  and  good  cheer  is  written  on  his  face.  One 
day  we  missed  him.  He  had  gone  to  the  sanitarium  for  a 
capital  operation.  I  went  to  see  him  to  give  a  word  of  com- 
fort if  I  could.  His  greeting  on  the  bed  of  suffering  was  so 
full  of  brotherly  kindness  that  he  gave  me  a  benediction 
greater  than  I  carried.  What  matter  if  he  butchers  the 
king's  English,  but  meets  a  brother  on  the  square?  He  dig- 
nifies service,  he  is  my  brother  man,  he  has  the  American 
spirit. 

The  American  spirit  not  only  teaches  these  principles  for 
social  service,  but  seeks  to  live  them  over  again  in  deeds 
well  done  and  in  sons  and  daughters  for  the  propagation  of 
the  race.  It  seeks  to  make  them  concrete  in  the  humble 
homes  of  the  people  as  set  out  in  the  actual  stories  of  two 
men: 

The  first  man  died.  Of  him  it  was  widely  published 
from  platform  and  in  papers  that  he  was  very  wealthy,  that 
he  was  a  member  of  many  exclusive  clubs  and  fraternities, 
and  that  his  sons  were  following  his  footsteps.  This  man 
had  none  of  the  American  spirit.    He  was  a  snob. 


THE  PRESENT  TASK  23 

The  other  man  died.  He  had  been  a  man  whose  life  was 
full  of  human  tasks.  He  trod  the  paths  of  labor  and 
economy.  His  sons  and  daughters  were  many.  Their  lives 
were  like  that  of  their  father.  Each  had  taken  a  place  in 
some  responsible  position  where  a  livelihood  could  be  earned. 
This  man  was  American  to  the  heart. 

America  has  been  the  cradle  of  liberty.  She  has  not 
stood  like  some  giant  beast,  ready  to  devour  all  who  come 
within  her  borders.  The  oppressed  of  all  the  world  have 
found  a  welcome  here. 

America  craves  to  be  the  teacher  of  the  sorrovz-blinded 
and  the  helper  of  all,  not  the  domineering  mistress.  She 
returned  the  Boxer  Indemnity  Fund  to  China,  thereby  win- 
ning the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  world. 

America  has  defended  the  Monroe  doctrine,  not  so  much 
for  her  own  safety  as  for  that  of  the  weaker  American 
republics.  She  may  yet,  by  her  example,  knit  in  close  Pan- 
American  purpose  the  peoples  of  all  the  Western  world. 

America  has  sent  out  missionaries  and  Red  Cross  nurses 
and  salesmen  and  scholars  and  diplomats  upon  all  the  oceans 
wide,  and  she  stands  ready  to-day  to  bring  the  blessings  of 
peace  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  if  by  any  means  it 
can  be  done. 

To  the  end  that  the  task  may  be  done,  the  Southern  Socio- 
logical Congress  tenders  its  services  to  all  men  everywhere. 


THE  PRESENT  TASK  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SOCIO- 
LOGICAL CONGRESS 

ALBERT  SIDNEY  JOHNSTONE,  CHAIRMAN 

According  to  the  program,  this  meeting  of  the  Southern 
Sociological  Congress  is  "to  mobilize  the  leadership  of  the 
South  for  a  Win-the-War  Campaign." 

The  fundamental  purpose  of  this  Congress  has  always 
been,  and  now  is,  to  inform  and  quicken  the  social  conscience 
of  the  South  and  to  have  it  express  itself  in  aggressive 
social  action. 


24  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

The  world  war  is  the  greatest  social  fact  of  modern 
times.  Upon  its  issue — we  will  win — rests  the  future  social 
order  of  humankind.  But  military  victory  to-day  will  issue 
in  social  defeat  to-morrow — yes,  will  it  not  come  to-day? — 
unless  men  and  women  of  moral  vision,  moral  purpose,  moral 
faith,  and  moral  achievement  effect  the  enactment  into  our 
individual,  political,  corporate,  social  life  of  those  funda- 
mental principles  involved  in  making  the  world  really  safe 
for  democracy. 

And  so  we  Southerners  are  met  together — as  "one  hun- 
dred per  cent  United  States" — to  see  to  it,  not  that  we  do  our 
bit,  but  that  the  South  does  its  best  to  win  the  war.  This  is 
no  idle  slogan;  it  expresses  the  one  aim  that  justifies  this 
Congress  to-day. 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  stands  alone  in  the 
South  to-day.  No  other  South-wide  organization  with  its 
aims,  purposes,  and  achievements  exists  within  our  borders. 
P'rom  its  beginning,  in  1912,  it  has  recognized  that  social 
salvation  and  the  means  of  attaining  it  are  essentially  moral 
and  religious.  Consequently  it  has  always  commanded  the 
continuous  support  of  the  best  moral  and  religious  elements 
of  the  South.  With  these  high  ideals  it  has  sought  to  ener- 
gize the  South  in  working  out  the  problems  of  the  South  in 
the  light  of  world  experience.  Therefore  this  Congress  does 
not  compete  in  any  sense  with  the  National  Conference  of 
Social  Work.  That  organization  discusses  the  technical 
experience  of  the  social  workers  of  North  America;  this 
Congress,  through  propaganda  and  educational  activity, 
seeks  to  apply  to  our  own  needs  the  knowledge  and  proven 
experience  of  sociologists. 

The  socially  sensitive  Southerner  exists  to-day  in  large 
numbers.  His  clan  is  increasing.  But  it  must  be  multiplied 
at  once,  not  alone  in  numbers,  but  in  intelligence  and  in 
aggressive  constructive  effort.  The  splendid  movement,  now 
gaining  momentum  in  Birmingham,  by  which  1,000  per- 
sons from  this  city  will  become  members  of  the  Southern 
Sociological  Congress,  is  of  the  greatest  significance  to  its 
continued  usefulness. 

The  American  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  K.  of  C, 
and  other  national  organizations  have  found  it  necessary 


THE  PRESENT  TASK  25 

greatly  to  increase  their  resources,  both  human  and  finan- 
cial, in  order  to  perform  their  war-time  duties.  The  South- 
ern Sociological  Congress  must  do  likewise  if  it  is  to  seize 
its  opportunity  and  mobilize  the  leadership  of  the  South  in 
fighting  disease  and  in  prosecuting  crime — two  social  luxu- 
ries, expensive  any  time,  especially  now ;  in  producing  more 
food  and  in  conserving  what  is  produced  that  we  may  fully 
discharge  our  duty  to  feed  not  only  ourselves,  but  our  muni- 
tion workers,  our  allies,  our  soldiers,  and  not — in  the  role 
of  slackers — demand  food  supplies  from  other  sections;  in 
improving  the  living  conditions  and  consequently  the  effi- 
ciency of  our  people ;  in  effecting  race  relations  of  growing 
harmony;  in  overcoming  illiteracy;  in  fact,  in  widening, 
enriching,  and  guarding  the  social  agencies  and  activities 
of  our  people. 

This  is  essential  now  and  in  the  years  immediately  ahead. 
Great  as  have  already  been  the  problems  of  readjustment, 
the  task  before  the  social  forces  of  America,  lest  the  vic- 
tories of  democracy  become  the  spoils  of  war,  will  be  more 
difficult  still.  Thousands  of  men  will  return  from  the  excite- 
ment of  the  trenches  to  the  pursuits  of  peace ;  their  mental 
and  nervous  reactions  can  hardly  be  predicted.  Disease, 
injury,  family  disruption  must  not  result  in  that  discourage- 
ment or  hopelessness  out  of  which  develops  the  pauperistic 
attitude.  Recouping  of  personal  fortunes,  regaining  foot- 
holds on  the  social  ladder  must  not  issue  in  self-centered 
living.  The  high  ideals  for  our  soldiers  here  must  not 
become  the  platitudes  of  the  political  demagogue.  The  mili- 
tarism we  fight  to-day  must  not  saddle  Aiiierica  after  peace 
is  declared.  There  is  still  a  good  deal  of  human  nature  in 
men.  The  best  moral  and  religious  leadership  of  our  time 
must  lead  during  the  years  of  readjustment  after  the  war, 
if  the  world  is  really  to  be  made  safe  for  democracy,  if 
human  nature  is  to  be  purified,  if  those  social  snakes  whose 
poison  is  abroad  in  the  world  to-day  are  to  be  prevented 
from  propagating  of  their  kind. 

For  this  program  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress 
stands.  Now  is  the  accepted  time;  now  is  the  day  of 
salvation. 


26  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY 

JAMES   E.    M'CULLOCH,    EDUCATIONAL    SECRETARY,    SOUTHERN 
SOCIOLOGICAL  CONGRESS 

The  times  in  which  we  live  are  strange  and  evil  and  full 
of  hope.  All  over  the  world  we  see  unrest  and  upheaval 
and  the  signs  that  have  hitherto  in  human  history  pre- 
ceded great  revolutions. 

In  all  ages  the  two  greatest  enemies  of  mankind  have 
been  war  and  disease.  Thousands  of  years  ago  civiliza- 
tion had  its  home  in  the  tropics  and  in  southern  coun- 
tries— first  at  the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  later  in 
Egypt.  Then  war  and  disease  forced  civilization  north- 
ward. The  oppressed  Hebrews  left  the  Egypt  of  pestilence 
and  war  in  search  of  a  land  of  health  and  peace.  Later 
war  shifted  the  center  of  civilization  from  Palestine  into 
Southern  Europe.  For  many  years  Athens  was  the  capital 
of  the  world.  Then  war,  that  had  burned  the  library  at 
Alexandria  and  had  laid  waste  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
brought  down  in  dust  and  ashes  at  Athens  the  work  of  the 
centuries — the  noblest  achievements  of  the  world's  greatest 
thinkers  and  leaders. 

Again  the  center  of  civilization  moved  westward,  first 
to  Rome,  then  to  Paris,  to  London,  to  Berlin.  For  over 
a  thousand  years  these  capitals  of  Western  Europe  have 
held  an  unchallenged  supremacy  in  the  world.  But  war 
has  been  destroying  the  products  of  civilization  in  these  very- 
centers  where  for  ten  centuries  the  orderly  progress 
of  human  society  has  been  developed  to  the  highest  degree. 

Of  the  six  hundred  millions  of  Christian  adherents  in 
the  world  at  present,  five  hundred  and  fifty  millions  are 
actually  engaged  in  war — international  destruction.  This 
means  the  collapse  of  civilization  again  at  its  cente7\  Has 
this  world  tragedy  no  meaning  for  us  as  champions  of 
human  welfare?  You  may  rest  assured  that  out  of  this 
European  Armageddon  will  come  the  advancement  of  civili- 
zation.    God  never  tiirns  hack. 

For  when  Egypt  took  up  the  sword  against  oppressed 
humanitj^  Jehovah  built  a  new  civilization  out  of  the  for- 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  27 

mer  slaves  of  Egypt,  and  made  them  the  prophets  and 
teachers  of  the  world.  While  Athens  and  Rome  were  glori- 
fying Mars,  the  God  of  humanity  was  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  modern  civilization  in  Western  Europe. 

If  we  had  the  prophetic  eye,  we  could  see  once  more 
above  the  flame  and  smoke  of  those  burning  homes  and 
libraries  and  cathedrals  yonder  in  Europe  the  star  of 
hope,  which  the  Almighty  has  repeatedly  held  in  the  dome 
of  the  darkest  night.  That  star  rises  every  night  over 
the  battle  fields  of  Europe,  and  all  who  are  not  blind  or 
dead  watch  it  with  a  kindling  faith  as  it  moves  still  west- 
ward until  it  is  lost  in  the  light  of  a  new  day.  Before 
many  months  those  soldiers  will  turn  their  sad  faces  from 
the  trenches  toward  home,  and  in  their  hearts  will  be  the 
titanic  resolve  of  many  millions  of  chastened  souls  to  have 
forever  done  with  war.  They,  by  the  millions,  will  want 
to  bring  their  families  to  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home 
of  the  brave.  That  will  be  a  glorious  migration,  and  God 
will  be  found  to  have  been  leading  it  by  these  battle  flames 
and  war  clouds  as  truly  as  in  days  of  old  he  led  with  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  that  guided  an  ancient  people  out 
from  another  kind  of  bondage. 

The  center  of  civilization  has  shifted  again.  America 
is  now  the  promised  land  of  humanity.  America  has  been 
anointed  the  high  priest  of  the  world  and  ordained  as  God's 
champion  of  human  rights.  Are  we  Americans  prepared 
for  such  a  high  calling?  How  may  we  set  6ur  house  in 
order  as  the  host  of  all  nations  and  races?  How  shall  we 
prove  by  our  welcome  and  by  our  hospitality  that  we  are 
worthy  of  the  confidence  and  love  of  the  world  ? 

It  is  to  this  kind  of  preparedness  that  I  challenge  the 
members  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress.  You  have 
been  providentially  called  on  to  make  ready  for  a  service 
to  humanity,  in  comparison  with  which  all  other  move- 
ments in  this  country  are  as  child's  play.  I  challenge  you 
to  the  task  of  qualifying  America  to  become  the  guardian 
and  champion  of  the  civilization  of  the  world  by  destroy- 
ing the  greatest  enemies  of  humanity — war  and  disease. 


28  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

America  must  declare  war  on  war  everywhere.  To  do 
that,  America  must  keep  prepared.  We  are  the  heirs  of  the 
ages.  America  must  be  the  keeper  of  the  treasures  of  his- 
tory. In  the  heart  of  this  nation  beats  the  blood  of  all 
nations.  In  our  veins  throbs  the  ancient  impulse  and 
clamor  the  unfulfilled  ideals  of  Hellenic  artist  and  Hebrew 
seer.  America  is  therefore  duty-bound  to  undertake  the 
achievement  of  human  rights  for  all  nations  and  races. 
Since  the  torch  of  civilization  has  been  placed  in  the  hand 
of  America,  she  would  be  a  recreant  to  history  no  less 
than  a  traitor  to  posterity  if  she  failed  to  bear  that  light 
forward. 

I  therefore  challenge  the  members  of  this  Congress  to 
a  prompt .  and  a  passionate  response  to  the  President 
for  Sociological  preparedness — even  to  the  higher  pre- 
paredness of  a  nation  once  in  histoiy  made  sociologically 
fit  to  serve  her  sister  nations  in  their  need.  There 
is  no  other  duty  so  solemnly  and  sacredly  urgent  for 
America  to-day — not  to  make  war,  but  to  prevent  war; 
not  to  slay,  but  to  save.  That  was  a  terrible  day  in  August, 
1914,  when  the  German  government  cast  its  treaty  obliga- 
tions aside  as  mere  scraps  of  paper  and  ordered  her  army 
to  invade  Belgium.  By  that  act  Germany  also  invaded 
the  rights  of  every  civilized  nation  on  earth,  and  America 
ought  to  have  been  prepared  to  step  instantly  to  her  his- 
toric place  in  the  first  line  of  defense  of  human  rights. 
If  America  had  been  so  thoroughly  prepared  materially 
and  spiritually  then,  if  her  unselfishness  and  courage  and 
justice  had  been  so  proven  to  the  world  that  she  could 
have  lifted  the  flag  of  justice  and  demanded  obedience  to 
international  law,  she  would  have  been  speaking  not  for 
herself  alone,  but  in  a  high  and  noble  sense  for  all  nations, 
even  for  the  German  people  themselves.  Who  can  doubt 
that  the  flag  of  every  nation  in  the  Western  Hemisphere 
would  have  been  raised  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  for  the 
cause  of  justice,  and  that  every  other  neutral  nation  on 
earth  would  have  come  forward  to  join  a  league  of  honor 
for  the  defense  of  international  law?  As  it  was,  every 
nation  was  a  law  unto  itself.     No  one  spoke  for  humanity 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  29 

as  humanity.  The  whole  world  was  unprepared  for  such 
an  outbreak  of  international  lawlessness,  and  most  of  all 
America.  She  could  not  speak  for  herself,  much  less  for 
others.  But  suppose  America  had  been  ready  for  the  noble 
task  that  I  have  indicated,  this  world  war  could  not  have 
been.  More  than  ten  millions  of  the  strongest  and  bravest 
men  of  Europe  would  be  with  us  yet  working  for  a  better 
day.  Belgium,  Poland,  Servia,  Armenia  would  yet  lend 
their  noble  light  to  the  constellation  of  our  international 
hope.  The  world  of  most  precious  art  and  literature  would 
yet  gleam  across  that  desert  of  ashes.  No  child  would 
have  been  murdered,  no  woman  wronged,  no  soldier  smoth- 
ered like  a  rat  with  poisoned  gases,  and  no  ship  scuttled 
in  this  modern  piracy  of  the  under  seas.  What  would  the 
higher  preparedness  have  been  worth  then  to  humanity, 
could  we  have  provided  it? 

But  preparedness  to  make  war  of  conquest  hereafter 
impossible  will  be  needed  more  to-morrow  than  to-day. 
No  other  nation  now  is  able  to  render  such  a  service  to 
humanity.  Will  America  respond  to  this  call — can  she 
meet  this  need  of  the  world?  It  will  depend  largely  on 
whether  such  organizations  as  this  Congress  shall  take 
and  maintain  the  impregnable  ground  of  positive  convic- 
tion. It  is  ours  to  conserve  human  life — not  in  fne  South 
alone,  not  in  America  alone,  but  in  the  world.  It  is  there- 
fore our  duty  to  help  make  a  war  of  conquest  in  the  future 
absolutely  impossible.  If  there  had  never  been  any  war 
in  all  history  to  destroy  the  strongest  and  bravest  of  each 
generation,  the  human  stock  to-day  would  be  infinitely 
finer  than  it  is,  and  the  average  of  human  achievement 
would  be  immeasurably  superior.  Moreover,  while  hu- 
manity in  Europe  is  to-day  securing  the  possibility  of  a 
new  regeneration  in  the  baptism  of  war,  America  can  be 
saved  from  degenerating  into  selfish  materialism  only  by 
releasing  the  forces  of  human  personality  in  a  conquest 
of  social  health  and  righteousness  on  such  a  scale  as  will 
demand  greater  sacrifice  and  heroism  than  war  itself. 

I  therefore  challenge  you  to  a  new  chivalry,  to  a  larger 
sacrifice  and  to  another  kind  of  warfare,  to  a   crusade 


30  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

against  disease — disease  in  all  its  havoc  and  disaster  to 
humankind.  Indeed,  this  is  a  far  greater  enemy  of  hu- 
manity than  war  has  ever  been.  In  the  Crimean  war  four 
soldiers  died  of  disease  for  every  one  that  was  killed  in 
battle.  In  our  civil  war,  on  both  sides,  for  every  soldier 
who  died  of  wounds  two  on  an  average  died  of  disease. 
In  the  present  war  the  actual  facts  are  suppressed,  but 
enough  has  come  to  light  to  show  that  disease  is  work- 
ing a  terrible  waste.  Authorities  estimate  that  a  disease 
is  sixteen  times  as  destructive  as  the  means  of  warfare. 

In  the  two  hundred  generations  of  history  disease  has 
been  the  heaviest  drag  on  civilization.  In  every  savage 
tribe,  in  every  heathen  nation,  in  every  civilized  country, 
disease  has  been  ever  present  as  the  haunting  threat  to 
every  human  life.  Even  our  common  salutation  in  the 
streets  is  the  morbid  interrogation,  "How  are  you?"  To- 
day the  whole  world  is  sick  and  sub-normal.  Every  human 
being  on  this  planet  is  either  suffering  from  some  actual 
disease  or  is  oppressed  by  the  constant  fear  of  it.  No 
life  is  secure.  Moreover,  war  has  been  merely  an  occa- 
sional incident  in  history  compared  with  the  incessant 
ravages  of  disease.  While  war  has  killed  its  hundreds  of 
thousands  in  every  generation,  disease  has  destroyed  its 
millions  by  the  year,  and  its  ravages  go  on  perpetually. 

In  all  the  world  it  is  estimated  that  during  this  year  the 
number  of  people  who  die  of  preventable  disease  alone  will 
reach  the  astounding  figure  of  nine  and  a  half  millions. 
At  the  present  rate,  preventable  disease  is  so  deadly 
throughout  the  world  that  a  nation  the  size  of  the  United 
States  is  actually  destroyed  every  ten  years. 

In  the  United  States  it  is  estimated  that  six  hundred 
and  thirty  thousand  people  die  every  year  of  preventable 
causes.  At  this  rate,  it  takes  only  three  years  for  prevent- 
able disease  to  destroy  the  population  of  an  entire  State 
the  size  of  Louisiana.  Every  twenty-four  hours  1,726  of 
our  people  are  buried  from  preventable  disease — twelve 
Lusitanias  every  week.  Worst  of  all,  some  250,000  babies 
die  every  year  in  this  country.  If  the  coffins  of  these  babies 
were  placed  side  by  side,  they  would  make  a  solid  row 
ninety-five  miles  long. 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  31 

In  this  country  2,900,000  people  are  constantly  sick. 
This  means  an  annual  loss  to  the  nation  of  three  billions 
of  dollars,  more  than  twice  as  much  as  the  average  expense 
of  the  entire  government.  Tuberculosis  alone  costs  this 
country  more  than  the  average  expense  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. At  the  present  death  rate  from  tuberculosis, 
five  millions,  or  one-twentieth  of  the  people  now  living  in 
the  United  States,  will  die  of  this  white  plague. 

The  twin  sister  of  this  haglike  horror  is  malaria,  which 
causes  3,000,000  cases  of  sickness  every  year  and  costs  the 
country  not  less  than  $160,000,000  annually.  Typhoid  is 
another  of  the  vile  breed — preventable  by  sanitation  and  by 
vaccination.  It  has  already  been  prevented  almost  entirely 
in  the  armies  of  the  world.  In  the  United  States  army  and 
navy  no  one  that  was  properly  vaccinated  for  typhoid  has 
died  of  that  disease  for  three  years.  Yet  typhoid  among 
our  people  is  a  terrific  pestilence,  causing  35,000  deaths 
annually  and  340,000  other  cases,  at  a  financial  loss  of  over 
$350,000,000. 

Hookworm  is  a  penalty  for  filth.  It  is  the  demon  that  is 
born  in  soil  pollution  and  putrefaction.  Of  all  diseases,  it  is 
one  of  the  easiest  to  prevent  and  to  cure,  and  for  these  rea- 
sons is  a  more  humiliating  reflection  upon  us.  Yet  millions 
of  our  people  here  in  the  South  are  affected  with  it.  In 
some  counties  as  many  as  78%  of  the  school  children  are 
infected  with  hookworm.  Of  the  892,000  persons  of  all 
ages  taken  at  random  in  the  United  States  and  examined  for 
hookworm,  more  than  one-third  were  suffering  from  this 
disease.  It  is  estimated  that  South  Carolina  alone  suffers  a 
loss  annually  of  $35,000,000  from  the  lowered  vitality  of 
her  workers  caused  by  hookworm. 

Then  there  is  the  great  red  plague — originally  born  out 
of  the  unholy  wedlock  of  pleasure  and  sin.  It  is  now  spread- 
ing its  deadly  threat  among  the  innocent  and  clean-living 
millions,  until  to-day  no  person,  not  even  the  purest  woman 
and  child,  is  wholly  secure  from  the  menace  of  syphilis.  At 
least  190,000  persons  in  the  United  States  are  constantly 
ill  from  this  plague,  which  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to 
cure  and  one  of  the  most  infectious.    If  you  want  to  realize 


82  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

the  ghastly  terror  of  this  disease,  go  to  the  insane  asylums 
of  this  country,  where  one  out  of  every  four  of  the  inmates 
had  his  reason  dethroned  by  this  demon  either  directly  or 
through  heredity.  Trace  these  cases  back  to  the  crowded 
hovels  of  the  land  and  the  red-light  districts  of  our  cities, 
where  over  every  such  door  should  be  posted  this  warning : 
"Incurable  insanity  contracted  here." 

The§e  five  diseases  and  others  are  absolutely  preventable 
to-day.  This  was  not  always  the  case.  A  few  years  ago  we 
did  not  know  the  cause  of  any  disease.  A  hundred  years 
ago  smallpox  was  one  of  the  most  hideous,  fatal,  and  dev- 
astating diseases.  Then  one-tenth  of  all  the  people  on  the 
globe  died  of  this  plague,  and  every  fifth  person  was  dis- 
figured for  life.  But  now,  thanks  to  such  benefactors  as 
Pasteur,  Koch,  and  others,  the  causes  of  these  diseases 
are  discovered.  We  know  how  these  disease  demons  live 
and  do  their  work ;  we  know  how  to  prevent  them  and  how 
absolutely  to  exterminate  them.  Such  diseases  as  tubercu- 
losis, malaria,  typhoid,  hookworm,  and  syphilis  are  no 
longer  to  be  classed  merely  as  diseases — they  are  social 
crimes!    Death  from  such  causes  is  manslaughter. 

I  therefore  challenge  the  members  of  this  Congress  to 
gird  themselves  for  battle  against  the  greatest  of  all  ene- 
mies. It  has  robbed  humanity  of  more  wealth  and  of  more 
happiness  and  of  more  lives  than  all  other  agencies  com- 
bined. But  for  disease,  this  planet  might  indeed  be  a  para- 
dise. It  will  become  a  heaven  of  beauty  and  happiness  when 
the  fiend  Disease  is  destroyed.  With  this  enemy  banished 
America,  and  especially  the  South  lying  along  the  tropical 
border,  might  indeed  become  the  new  Eden  of  the  olden 
dream.  For  thousands  of  years  human  happiness  and  eflfi- 
ciency  have  waited  for  the  redemption  of  health,  while  or- 
ganized religion  has  been  preaching  about  health  and  joy 
beyond  the  grave.  But  now  science  and  religion  alike  have 
made  public  health  a  moral  issue,  and  are  therefore  calling 
on  the  Church  and  every  other  social  agency  for  a  crusade 
of  health.  Why  is  the  moral  leadership  of  the  world  so 
slow  to  meet  this  challenge?  Think  of  it!  The  cost  of  the 
mere  coffins  for  deaths  in  this  country  due  to  preventable 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  33 

causes  alone  is  over  $31,000,000  annually.  This  amount 
would  finance  a  health  crusade  that  would  double  the  aver- 
age of  human  life  in  America  within  this  generation. 

If  a  man  from  the  planet  Mars,  where  disease  and  war 
were  probably  prevented  thousands  of  years  ago,  were  to 
travel  around  our  world  and  see  the  frequent  funeral  pro- 
cessions of  children,  observe  the  long  death  lists  from  pre- 
ventable diseases,  witness  how  thousands  of  people  are  com- 
pelled to  live  in  unsanitary  conditions  in  our  asylums, 
prisons,  and  almshouses,  and  learn  how  millions  of  human 
beings  linger  out  their  lives  in  houses  unfit  for  human  habi- 
tation, he  would,  I  think,  on  returning  to  his  healthy  planet, 
where  we  assume  that  no  one  ever  dies  under  a  hundred 
years  of  age,  make  a  report  on  this  neighboring  planet ;  and 
I  fancy  the  headline  in  the  next  morning  paper  would  read 
like  this:  "Chikb-en  die  on  earth:  the  inhahitants  of  the 
planet  are  a  pnmitive  race  of  beings,  mostly  savages  ivho 
still  engage  in  war,  and  so  selfish  and  cruel  and  ignorant 
that  they  do  not  even  protect  their  offspring  from  disease. 
One  out  of  every  eight  children  born  into  the  ivorld  dies 
under  one  year  of  age,  and  seldom  does  a  person  live  to  the 
age  of  one  hundred  years."  This  statement  of  fact,  I  am 
sure,  would  produce  a  sensation  in  any  other  world  in  the 
universe.    But  not  so  with  us. 

These  startling  facts  have  not  even  aroused  the  Church, 
which  is  the  divinely  ordained  guardian  of  human  life.  As 
long  as  the  causes  of  disease  were  unknown,  the  Church 
was  largely  helpless  and,  therefore,  exempt  from  responsi- 
bility. But,  now  that  both  the  causes  of  disease  and  the 
means  of  prevention  are  understood,  the  position  of  the 
Church  is  shifted  from  that  of  a  dim  and  superstitious  indif- 
ference to  that  of  a  commanding  moral  obligation.  Here- 
after a  searching  test  of  church  efficiency  will  be  her  ability 
to  achieve  health  for  the  people — physical,  mental,  and 
moral  health.  And  every  church  that  holds  aloof  from  this 
holy  interest  will  thereby  forfeit  her  historic  place  in  the 
reverence  and  the  confidence  of  humanity. 

Savages  believe  that  disease  is  a  pestilence  sent  from  the 
devil;  barbarians  teach  that  disease  is  a  penalty  for  sin; 
3 


34  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

some  ignorant  Christians  have  talked  of  the  mysterious  dis- 
pensation of  Providence  during  an  epidemic  of  disease,  and 
some  ministers  have  preached  the  monstrous  doctrine  that 
children  die  by  the  will  of  God.  I  absolutely  refuse  to  be- 
lieve that  God  ever  meant  for  any  child  to  die.  Disease  is 
no  more  of  God  than  sin.  No!  Science  has  torn  away  the 
veil  of  mystery  about  disease.  It  is  no  more  a  mystery 
than  fire  and  rain.  We  are  face  to  face  here  with  the  law 
of  cause  and  effect.  We  can  no  more  prevent  disease  by 
piety  and  prayer  alone  than  we  can  stop  a  flood  or  put  out 
fire  by  such  means  alone.  We  no  longer  grope  in  the  dark. 
We  know  the  causes  of  disease  and  we  know  how  to  remove 
these  causes.  That  knowledge  brings  with  it  tremendous 
responsibilities. 

Am  I  therefore  to  be  censured  when  I  confess  to  a  pro- 
found astonishment  upon  hearing  more  than  once  recently 
the  illogical  declaration  that  the  Church  has  nothing  to  do 
with  clean-up  campaigns  and  health  crusades,  because,  as 
it  is  insisted,  "The  only  business  of  the  Church  is  to  save 
souls."  Surely,  if  any  man  wants  scriptural  authority  for 
the  obligation  of  the  Church  in  health  conservation,  he  can 
find  it  amply  set  forth  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
In  the  Mosaic  legislation  sanitation  and  hygiene  had  a 
large  place.  In  the  ministry  of  Jesus  the  conservation  of 
health  and  life  was  a  predominant  characteristic. 

I  must  dwell  on  this  point  and  speak  plainly,  for  I  have 
no  hope  whatever  of  a  successful  advance  in  achieving 
health  apart  from  organized  religion.  This  is  the  only 
power  that  can  work  miracles  for  humanity.  Think  of  the 
fanatical  sword  of  Mohammed !  Think  of  Peter  the  Hermit 
and  the  Crusaders!  Only  to  recover  an  empty  tomb  from 
the  infidel,  organized  religion  marched  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  Christians  in  Europe  across  the  continent  into 
Asia  to  die  of  exposure  and  starvation.  In  those  crusades 
were  sacrificed  fabulous  wealth  and  countless  lives  for  no 
worthy  purpose.  Organized  religion  has  not  always,  there- 
fore, been  as  intelligent  as  it  has  been  powerful.  But  it  is 
always  a  miracle  worker.  God  meant  for  it  to  work  mir- 
acles, as  Moses  and  Jesus  did,  for  healing  and  for  life- 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  35 

saving  in  all  that  those  broad  terms  meant  in  the  mind  of 
the  Master. 

I,  for  one,  believe  that  the  Church  will  respond  to  this 
grand  recall  of  humanity.  In  all  ages  it  has  been  the  great- 
est altruistic  agency.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  will  fail  in 
this  twentieth  century. 

The  most  distressing  fact  is,  of  course,  that  the  Church 
is  broken  up  into  so  many  warring  camps  that  it  is  not 
capable  of  delivering  its  full  strength  in  a  health  crusade, 
or  in  any  other  human  cause. 

However,,  what  is  this  Congress  but  a  council  of  war  com- 
posed of  the  first  line  officers  of  all  the  churches?  Are  you 
not  the  watchman  on  the  wall?  All  the  members  of  the 
Church  cannot  be  leaders.  All  cannot  be  seers.  Have  you 
yourselves,  as  the  pioneers  and  prophets  of  humanity  in  our 
day,  made  the  proper  appeal  to  the  church  army  to  enter 
this  warfare?  When  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Church  once 
feel  the  thrill  of  the  vision  that  you  have,  then  will  begin 
the  greatest  social  reform  that  the  world  has  ever  witnessed. 
In  this  twentieth  century  the  distinguishing  achievement 
of  the  American  Church,  which  has  never  in  the  past  cen- 
turies been  without  her  distinguishing  achievements,  will 
be  the  co7iservation  of  human  life. 

What  need  have  we  to  wait  for  further  incentive?  Our 
call  comes  from  millions  of  new-made  graves  in  Europe, 
from  broken-hearted  women  and  children  who  can  only  look 
wistfully  to  America,  and  from  the  mute  prayers  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  prisoners,  insane  and  sick  people  in 
our  own  land.  We  are  moved  by  the  bitter  tears  of  a  quar- 
ter of  a  million  mothers  in  this  country  who  needlessly 
buried  their  babies  last  year,  and  we  are  ordained  by  the 
invisible  scarred  hands  of  Him  who  came  that  the  world 
might  have  life  more  abundantly. 

Fellow-workers  in  this  health  crusade,  if  chivalry  is  not 
dead,  if  religion  is  not  a  mockery,  you  and  I  must  devote 
ourselves  to  the  task  of  a  new  era  on  earth.  I  therefore 
challenge  the  members  of  this  Congress,  as  the  representa- 
tives of  all  the  churches  and  of  the  best  science  and  the  best 
purpose  of  this  best  day  the  world  ever  saw,  that  you  shall 


?S  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

accept  the  task  and  provide  the  imperative  leadership  of 
this  higher  preparedness. 

Surely  there  is  need  of  some  miracle-working  power  to 
arise  in  this  hallowed  land  of  the  South,  where  every  river 
and  mountain  can  tell  a  story  of  the  heroism  of  our  fathers. 
You  and  I  ought  to  be  utterly  ashamed  to  look  at  the  grave 
of  a  Confederate  soldier  so  long  as  the  mob  exists  on  this 
sacred  soil.  Our  fathers  died  for  law.  It  was  only  after 
they  were  dead  that  violence  was  done  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  But  though  v/e  are  the  sons  of  martyrs, 
yet  the  flag  of  every  Southern  State  is  stained  with  the  fresh 
blood  of  mob  murder. 

But  this  is  not  enough.  When  the  mob  spirit  is  dead  and 
law  and  order  are  established,  we  shall  have  laid  only  the 
first  stone  in  the  foundation  of  the  temple  of  democracy. 
Shall  we  never  try  to  go  on  and  complete  this  temple? 

If  three-fourths  of  all  the  poverty  in  the  United  States 
is  due  to  ill  health,  then  why  should  our  county  asylums 
be  conducted  as  Gehennas,  and  why  should  our  charity  be 
administered  in  such  a  manner  as  to  break  down  all  self- 
respect  in  the  recipient?  It  is  yours  to  teach  the  public  that 
most  poverty  is  due  to  sickness  over  which  the  victims  have 
no  control,  and  that  the  chief  cause  of  poverty — disease — 
must  be  removed  before  poverty's  blight  can  be  relieved. 

If  most  crime  is  due  to  ill  health,  caused  by  either  disease 
or  drugs,  it  is  yours  to  transform  our  prison  system  from 
one  of  punishment  to  one  of  cure.  A  thousand  years  from 
now  it  will  be  the  amazement  of  the  historian  that  it  was 
ever  possible  for  our  present  unspeakably  cruel  and  bar- 
barous prison  methods  and  Christianity  to  exist  in  the 
world  at  the  same  time. 

In  this  new  human  order  one  of  the  very  first  efforts 
must  be  in  behalf  of  the  mental  and  spiritual  prisoners  in 
our  insane  asylums.  Here  are  tens  of  thousands  of  sick 
people  being  confined  and  treated,  for  the  most  part,  like 
dangerous  animals,  when  the  tragic  reality  is  that  their 
malady  in  countless  cases  is  purely  physical.  If  there  is  an 
intellectual  and  moral  giant  among  us,  let  him  lead  the  forces 
of  reform  against  the  evils  of  the  institutions  for  the  in- 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  37 

sane  and  relieve  in  some  measure  the  bitter  experiences  of 
this  vast  multitude  of  most  unfortunate  people  in  jails,  poor- 
houses,  asylums,  and  roaming  at  large, 

I  challenge,  further,  that  this  Congress  lead  an  effort 
to  enlist  the  churches  definitely  in  a  grand  recall  to 
the  inestimable  asset  of  human  health;  to  Jiave  this  Coiv- 
gress  occupy  the  same  relation  to  the  churches  in  a  health 
crusade  that  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of  America  occupies 
to  the  churches  in  the  temperance  movement. 

Once  more,  I  challenge  Southern  chivalry  to  a  needed 
reform  in  the  medical  profession.  To-day  the  physician 
is  called  in  after  sickness  occurs  and  is  paid  only  for  treat- 
ing cases.  Public  opinion  has  yielded  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession for  these  long,  long  years  the  antiquated  and  super- 
stitious fee  system  w^hich  has  made  it  to  the  interest  of  the 
physician  to  permit  as  many  cases  of  sickness  as  possible 
and  to  suffer  them  to  remain  uncured  as  long  as  possible. 
During  the  last  forty  years  preventive  medicine  has  made 
marvelous  progress  on  the  scientific  side,  but  owing  to  our 
present  fee  system  the  physician  cannot  apply  his  knov^^l- 
edge  of  preventive  medicine  on  the  practical  side  without 
pulling  both  against  public  opinion  and  against  the  power- 
ful personal  motive  of  self-interest. 

Nothing  could  be  more  foolish  and  unjust  than  to  hold 
this  profession  in  a  position  where  its  interest  and  that  of 
the  public  are  directly  opposite  and  in  conflict.  The  motive 
of  the  profession  must  be  so  reversed  that  it  shall  be  for  the 
best  interest  of  the  physician  to  have  as  few  cases  of  sick- 
ness as  possible  and  to  cure  them  as  quickly  as  possible. 
This  can  be  done  by  health  clubs  in  schools  and  churches, 
by  health  insurance,  and  by  teaching  and  promoting  health 
in  the  home  and  through  the  press. 

At  length  and  like  a  trumpet  blast  must  go  forth  from 
this  Congress  at  this  fateful  hour  the  challenge  for  a 
campaign  against  these  two  greatest  enemies  of  mankind 
— war  and  disease.  This  must  be  accomplished  by  making 
better  and  more  permanent  this  annual  council  of  war,  by 
the  publication  of  literature,  by  its  members  carrying  on  a 
propaganda  in  churches,  schools,  and  other  meeting  places. 


o8  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

by  bringing  about  adequate  legislation  in  the  cities,  states, 
and  national  government,  by  having  laws  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene  strictly  enforced,  and  by  building  up  the  member- 
ship of  this  organization  to  include  all  who  are  ready  to  re- 
spond to  the  call  of  the  new  chivalry. 

As  your  Secretary,  I  may  be  permitted,  at  the  expense  of 
a  slight  delay  for  detail,  to  include  in  my  recommendations 
the  proposal  that  to  carry  out  this  program  it  is  imperative 
that  we  increase  our  annual  budget  from  $7,000  to  $15,000. 
This  can  be  done  by  securing  fifteen  hundred  new  active 
members  and  by  enlisting  four  hundred  sustaining  members 
(who  will  pay  a  ten-dollar  fee)  and  ten  new  life  members. 
But  this  will  be  only  a  beginning.  The  only  limitation  to 
this  health  crusade  is  the  financial  one. 

This  Congress  should  have  for  its  work  in  a  few  years 
an  income  of  $50,000.  That  will  require  an  endowment 
of  one  million  dollars.  Within  a  decade  we  ought  also  to 
build  on  this  foundation  by  enrolling  ten  thousand  active 
members,  two  thousand  sustaining  members,  and  one  hun- 
dred life  members.  To  expect  less  of  Southern  chivalry 
would  be  unreasonable,  for  it  has  always  been  true  that 
when  the  South  has  been  called  on  to  fight  the  battles  of 
justice  and  humanity  she  has  never  been  less  than  heroic. 
I  therefore  appeal  to  you  members  to  solemnly  resolve,  by 
the  help  of  the  Eternal,  that  you  will  build  up  the  member- 
ship as  I  have  indicated  and  that  you  will  help  secure  the 
million-dollar  endowment  by  donations  and  by  bequests  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment.  With  such  an  organization,  so 
equipped,  this  Congress  can  initiate  and  carry  forward  a 
work  of  preparedness  beyond  the  dreams  of  even  our  most 
patriotic  and  far-seeing  statesmen.  For  with  the  resources 
that  I  have  mentioned  this  Congress  could  direct  a  health 
crusade  that  would  double  the  average  of  human  life  in 
the  South  in  this  generation. 

You  have  my  message.  I  have  made  my  appeal.  I  have 
challenged  you  to  lead  a  crusade  against  war  and  against 
disease.  I  have  indicated  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  such 
a  movement,  and  the  relation  of  this  movement  to  the  pres- 
ent national  crisis  also.     I  have  pointed  out  some  practical 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  THE  NEW  CHIVALRY  39 

steps  that  can  be  taken  by  this  Congress  immediately.  The 
nation  and  God  await  your  answer.  Let  me  remind  you, 
however,  that  victory  can  be  achieved  here  only  by  great 
sacrifice.  But  such  a  cause  as  ours  is  worthy  of  any  sacrifice. 

In  the  imperial  city  of  Pekin,  China,  we  are  told  by  Laf- 
cadio  Hearn  that  there  is  the  most  wonderful  bell  in  the 
world,  because  all  who  hear  it  say  that  it  has  a  human  voice. 
Five  hundred  years  ago  the  emperor  ordered  a  mandarin 
to  make  a  bell  that  could  be  heard  twenty  miles  and  that  the 
bell  should  be  made  by  fusing  iron  and  brass  and  silver  and 
gold.  After  great  and  prolonged  preparation,  the  molten 
metals  were  cast.  But  when  the  earthen  mold  was  re- 
moved from  the  casting  it  was  discovered  that  the  bell  was 
a  failure,  for  the  metals  had  refused  to  blend.  The  gold 
scorned  the  brass,  and  the  silver  refused  to  mingle  with  the 
iron.  So  the  emperor  ordered  another  trial,  but  this  second 
effort  likewise  failed,  for  the  metals  rebelled  each  against 
the  other  and  the  result  was  an  ugly,  knotty,  slagged  object 
utterly  without  value  as  a  bell. 

Then  the  emperor  grew  impatient  and  wrote  the  man- 
darin a  note  which  closed  with  these  words :  "If  you  fail  a 
third  time  in  fulfilling  our  command,  thy  head  shall  be  sev- 
ered from  thy  neck.  Tremble  and  obey."  The  only  child 
of  the  mandarin  was  a  daughter  of  wondrous  beauty  and 
loveliness.  Her  name  was  Ko-Ngai.  She  loved  her  father 
with  a  love  that  surpassed  the  love  of  humans.  She  asked 
an  astrologer  to  tell  her  how  she  could  save  her  father's  life 
and  carry  out  the  will  of  her  emperor.  His  answer  was: 
"Gold  and  brass  will  never  unite,  silver  and  iron  will  never 
embrace  until  the  flesh  of  a  maiden  be  melted  in  the  cruci- 
ble, until  the  blood  of  a  virgin  be  mixed  with  the  metals  in 
their  fusion."  When  all  was  ready  for  the  third  casting, 
the  workmen  suddenly  heard  one  singing,  and  as  they  looked 
up  there  stood  Ko-Ngai  singing  of  filial  love.  Then  as  she 
sang  the  last  words,  "For  thy  sake,  O  my  Father,"  she 
leaped  headlong  into  the  dazzling  white  flood  of  metal.  The 
workmen  were  struck  dumb  and  the  father  fainted  in  the 
agony  of  his  grief. 


40  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

But  the  emperor  had  to  be  obej'ed,  and,  hopeless  as  the 
task  seemed,  the  workmen  made  the  great  casting  for  the 
last  time.  As  the  metal  cooled  they  were  amazed  at  the 
wonderful  form  and  color  and  beauty  of  the  bell.  There 
were  no  fissures,  no  knots,  no  flaws  of  any  kind.  There  were 
no  traces  of  iron,  nor  silver,  nor  brass,  nor  gold ;  nor  even 
a  trace  of  the  body  of  Ko-Ngai.  All  had  merged  into  a 
marvelous  alloy  such  as  no  one  had  ever  seen  before.  Then 
the  bell  was  placed  in  position,  and  at  the  first  stroke  all 
were  startled,  for  it  was  not  as  other  bells.  As  the  bell  rang 
out  the  people  stopped  in  the  streets  to  listen  and  a  million 
people  for  twenty  miles  around  exclaimed :  "The  bell  has 
a  human  voice."  For  with  every  stroke  that  bell  cried  out 
the  name  "Ko-Ngai!  Ko-Ngai!  Ko-Ngai!" 

Thousands  of  years  ago  humanity  tried  to  develop  a  per- 
fect civilization  in  Egypt.  War  and  disease  made  it  impos- 
sible. All  other  efforts  since  have  likewise  failed.  America 
is  now  the  melting  pot  of  the  world.  Here  a  final  effort 
is  being  made  to  fuse  and  tune  all  nations  and  races  into  a 
democracy,  into  a  human  brotherhood.  The  war  in  Europe 
is  going  soon  to  pour  a  great  flood  of  all  discordant  elements 
of  mankind  into  this  melting  pot.  The  price  of  success  here 
will  be  the  same  that  Ko-Ngai  paid.  The  social  workers 
of  America  alone,  imbued  as  they  are  with  the  all-sufl5cient 
Spirit  of  the  Son  of  Man,  love  humanity  enough  to  make 
this  sacrifice.  A  nobler  sacrifice!  Ko-Ngai  died  to  save 
her  father;  we  are  called  to  live  heroically  to  save  human- 
ity about  us.  God  is  calling  to-day  for  a  new  type  of  hero- 
ism, as  the  Founder  of  this  Congress  has  so  often  reminded 
us — not  to  die,  but  to  live ;  not  a  spasm  of  courage  in  a  last 
hour,  but  a  lifelong  greatness  of  heart  for  unselfish  and 
victorious  service.  Fellow  Social  Workers,  turn  your  eyes 
from  the  crucifixion  of  humanity  in  Europe  and  get  a  vision 
of  the  ideal  social  order  that  is  to  be  when  men  are  as  heroic 
in  saving  life  here  as  they  now  are  courageous  in  destroying 
it  across  the  sea.  Then  everywhere  men  will  say  as  they 
hear  the  name  of  our  nation :  "America,  America  is  the  most 
beautiful  name  on  earth,  for  it  has  the  divine  soul  of  broth- 
erhood." 


II.    AMERICA'S  FIGHT  FOR  DEMOCRACY 


The  Challenge  of  the  Congress 
The  Necessity  of  America's  Part  in  the  War 
The  Call  from  the  Firing  Line 
America's  Answer  to  the  German  Challenge 
The  Moral  Causes  of  the  War 
The  Moral  Aims  of  the  War 
America — Peacemaker  or  Pacemaker? 
The  Program  of  War    and    the    Program    of    the 
League  to  Enforce  Peace 


THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is  a  challenge 
to  the  men  and  women  of  the  whole  South : 

1.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  Southern  fathers  and 
mothers  and  all  social  workers  to  lift  the  burdens  of 
labor  from  childhood  and  to  make  education  universal. 

2.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  men  who  make  and  admin- 
ister laws  to  organize  society  as  a  school  for  the  develop- 
ment of  all  her  citizens  rather  than  simply  to  be  a 
master  to  dispose  of  the  dependent,  defective,  and  de- 
linquent population  with  the  least  expense  to  the  State. 

3.  It  is  a  challenge  to  all  citizens  to  rally  to  the 
leaders  of  all  social  reforms,  so  as  to  secure  for  the 
South  civic  righteousness,  temperance,  and  health. 

4.  It  is  a  challenge  to  Southern  chivalry  to  see  that 
justice  is  guaranteed  to  all  citizens  regardless  of  race, 
color,  or  religion,  and  especially  to  befriend  and  defend 
the  friendless  and  helpless. 

5.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  Church  to  prove  her  right 
to  social  mastery  by  a  universal  and  unselfish  social 
ministry. 

6.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the  present  generation  to  show 
its  gratitude  for  the  heritage  bequeathed  to  it  through 
the  toil  and  blood  of  centuries  by  devoting, itself  more 
earnestly  to  the  task  of  making  the  nation  a  real 
brotherhood. 

7.  It  is  a  challenge  to  strong  young  men  and  women 
to  volunteer  for  a  crusade  of  social  service,  and  to  be 
enlisted  for  heroic  warfare  against  all  destroyers  of 
public  health  and  purity,  and  to  champion  all  that 
makes  for  an  ideal  national  life. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  AMERICA'S  PART  IN  THE  WAR 

JAMES    A.    B.    SCHERER,    PH.D.,    LL.D.,    FIELD    AGENT    OF    THE 
COUNCIL   OF    NATIONAL  DEFENSE,    SPECIAL   REPRESEN- 
TATIVE   OF    THE    U.    S.    SHIPPING    BOARD,    AND 
PRESIDENT  OF  THROOP  COLLEGE  OF  TECH- 
NOLOGY, PASADENA,  CAL. 

Frequently,  in  dififerent  parts  of  the  country,  I  am 
warned  of  the  presence  of  spies.  Now,  I  could  wish  few 
things  better  for  the  American  cause  than  that  a  German 
spy  should  have  accompanied  me  on  a  trip  that  I  completed 
this  morning,  and  then  reported  truthfully  to  the  Kaiser  the 
things  he  had  seen  and  heard. 

Here  are  two  documents  that  I  would  ask  my  friendly 
spy  to  consider,  for  his  own  welfare,  and  then  to  enclose 
for  the  careful  consideration  of  the  Kaiser.  Both  of  them 
are  penned  by  Americans  with  German  names  and  of  Ger- 
man ancestry,  like  the  speaker  who  now  addresses  you. 
But  they  are  genuinely  dehyphenated  Americans,  and  this 
is  the  way  they  fling  back  into  the  impudent  face  of  the 
Kaiser  his  insolent  demand  for  their  support. 

The  first  statement  is  printed  in  the  "South  Carolina 
Handbook  of  the  War,"  and  the  American  of  German 
ancestry  who  wrote  it  is  Dr.  George  B.  Cromer,  of 
Newberry : 

"We  might  have  kept  out  of  the  war: 

"By  admitting  that  Germany  has  the  right  selfishly  to 
treat  her  solemn  contracts  with  other  nations  as  'scraps  of 
paper.' 

"By  admitting  that  Germany  had  the  right,  with  mailed 
fist  and  iron  heel,  ruthlessly  to  crush  and  destroy  Belgium, 
a  weak  nation,  whose  neutrality  she  was  under  sacred  obli- 
gation to  protect. 

"By  admitting  that  Germany,  while  enjoying  our  hos- 
pitality and  professing  to  be  our  friend,  had  the  right  to 
maintain  an  army  of  spies  and  carry  on  a  campaign  of 
lav,^lessness  in  our  own  country. 

"By  admitting  that  Germany,  while  professing  to  be  our 
friend,  had  the  right  to  embroil  us  with  Mexico  and  Japan 
in  an  effort  to  destroy  the  integrity  of  our  countiy. 


44  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

"By  admitting  that  Germany,  while  professing  to  be  our 
friend,  had  the  right,  with  ruthless  and  devilish  disregard 
of  law  and  humanity,  to  destroy  our  ships  and  murder  our 
citizens — men,  women,  and  children — traveling  on  peaceful 
missions  and  within  their  perfect  legal  rights. 

"By  admitting  that  might  is  right ;  that  there  is  no  law 
of  nations  above  the  will  and  power  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government;  that  our  flag  is  no  longer  an  emblem  of  sov- 
ereignty and  national  honor;  that  we  have  a  spineless  and 
nerveless  Government  or  a  nation  of  slackers  and  cowards ; 
and  that  our  Constitution  and  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence are  'scraps  of  paper.' 

"Being  unwilling  to  admit  these  things,  we  are  in  the 
war.  We  will  come  out  of  the  war  by  the  gate  of  Victory — 
victory  that  will  vindicate  the  rights  and  freedom  of  our 
own  people,  and  victory  for  justice,  liberty,  and  humanity. 
But  we  must  overcome  an  army  at  home  as  well  as  vast 
armies  in  Europe.  In  our  own  country  are  spies,  so-called 
pacifists,  traitors,  and  demagogues,  who  are  diligently  sow- 
ing the  seeds  of  sedition  and  treason  by  criticising  the  meth- 
ods and  policies  of  our  Government  and  by  creating  division 
and  dissatisfaction  among  our  own  people.  They  are  trying 
to  shackle  the  Government,  and,  in  effect,  they  are  attack- 
ing our  army  in  flank  and  rear.  Our  army  is  entitled  to  the 
undivided  support  of  a  united  country.  To  this  end  and  to 
the  utmost  limit  of  its  constitutional  authority,  the  Govern- 
ment should  put  down  the  sinister  pro-German  influences 
that  are  at  work  in  our  own  country.  There  is  no  middle 
ground.  Our  citizens  who  are  not  pro-American  are  pro- 
German.    Those  v/ho  are  not  for  us  are  against  us." 

So  far.  Dr.  Cronier.  This  second  very  brief  document 
com.es  from  'way  out  in  Nebraska,  in  the  form  of  a  short 
but  most  impressive  declaration.  Nebraska  has  a  large 
German-born  population,  and  this  fact  has  created  grave 
problems.  The  m.ayor  of  one  of  the  cities  which  has  a  large 
German  population,  and  who  was  himself  bom  in  Germany, 
Mayor  Harais,  has  done  a  great  deal  to  assist  in  the  solution 
of  these  problems.  He  has  unquestionably  the  right  method. 
When  America  went  into  the  war  he  locked  himself  in  the 
house  for  three  days,  as  he  declares,  "to  find  himself" — 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  AMERICA'S  PART  IN  THE  WAR  45 

"to  try  out  the  feeling  that  had  not  only  been  born  and  bred 
in  him,  but  had  also  been  further  strengthened  by  educa- 
tion." At  the  end  of  that  time  he  knew  that  his  teaching 
had  been  false,  and  that  the  salvation  of  the  world  depended 
upon  the  crushing  forever  of  the  German  idea  and  spirit; 
but,  as  he  said  at  the  Nebraska  War  Conference  last  winter, 
"this  should  be  done  by  kindness,  by  education,  by  persua- 
sion;" and  then — as  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks — "if 
it  cannot  be  done  that  way,  by  jail ;  and  to  put  the  people 
of  the  same  country  as  that  of  my  birth  in  jail  is  hard  for 
me,  because  I  am  afraid  that  they  have  not  been  able  to 
see  the  light  as  I  know  it;  but  even  though  it  may  be  hard, 
if  they  cannot  be  reached  by  kindness  and  education,  they 
must  be  reached  by  force,  which  is  what  they  have  been 
accustomed  to,  and  in  my  city  we  have  now  no  pro-German 
element,  and  we  have  now  no  pacifist  element.  Those  that 
were  pro-German  have  been  educated  by  kindness  or  by 
force." 

The  people  of  America  are  themselves  being  educated  in 
consequence  of  this  war.  They  are  reading,  and  thinking 
as  they  read.  Here  is  a  red  book,  "Out  of  Their  Own 
Mouths,"  which  the  people  are  reading  and  thinking  about. 
It  consists  exclusively  of  authenticated  German  quotations — 
quoting  all  the  way  from  Frederick  the  Great  down  to  Zim- 
mermann  the  Little,  the  controlling  ideas  of  Prussianism. 
It  should  be  on  every  bookshelf  in  the  land.  Said  Frederick 
in  a  letter  to  Minister  Radziwill :  "If  there  is  anything  to 
be  gained  by  it,  we  will  be  honest ;  if  deception  is  necessary, 
let  us  be  cheats."  He  wrote  in  his  copy  of  Tacitus:  "No 
ministers  at  home,  but  clerks ;  no  ministers  abroad,  but 
spies."  This  mJght  have  been  written  yesterday  regarding 
Zimmerman  and  von  BernstorfT  if  a  modern  German  ofncial 
could  only  be  found  to  tell  the  truth. 

"Scraps  of  paper"  also  is  a  time-worn  phrase ;  you  will 
find  it  in  a  speech  by  Frederick  William  IV.  from  the  throne 
in  1847,  when  he  declared:  "All  written  constitutions  are 
but  scraps  of  paper." 

Coming  down  to  the  pseudo-Napoleon,  whose  throne 
should  be  a  gibbet,  William  II.,  we  hear  no  uncertain  note 
in  his  autobiographical  reminiscences  of  God.     On  March 


46  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

28,  1901,  he  shouted,  when  there  was  no  war:  "We  shall 
conquer  everywhere,  even  though  we  be  surrounded  by 
enemies  on  all  sides ;  for  there  lives  a  powerful  ally,  the  good 
old  God  in  heaven,  who  has  always  been  on  our  side ;"  and 
only  the  other  day  he  announced  that  this  good  old  God,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  had  shown  himself  an  "unconditional  and 
avowed  ally"  of  the  Central  Powers. 

That  would  not  be  serious  except  as  blasphemy  were  it 
not  that  this  fanatical  megalomaniac  has  actually  talked 
himself  and  his  people  into  the  faith  that  he  acts  as  the 
vicegerent  of  God  on  the  earth.  As  he  said  on  August  25, 
1910,  "Looking  upon  myself  as  the  instrument  of  the  Lord, 
without  regard  to  the  opinions  and  intentions  of  the  day,  I 
go  my  way" — and  let  us  devoutly  hope  and  pray  that  he 
soon  may  go  his  way  "to  his  own  place,"  like  that  other 
Judas  who  betrayed  his  professed  Master  with  blandish- 
ments. 

This  modern  Saul — I  refer  not  to  Tarsus  but  to  Endor — 
giving  instruction  to  his  Chinese  expeditionary  force  in 
1900,  said  to  them:  "Give  no  quarter,  take  no  prisoners. 
Use  your  weapons  in  such  a  way  that  for  a  thousand  years 
no  Chinese  shall  dare  to  look  upon  a  German  askance.  Be 
as  terrible  as  Attila's  Huns" — and  if  the  nickname  sticks 
and  rankles  now,  remember  that  it  is  William's  own 
manufacture. 

This  brings  us  to  the  period  of  the  war.  In  his  proclama- 
tion to  the  Army  of  the  East  in  1914  William  said:  "I  am 
the  instrument  of  the  Almighty.  I  am  his  sword,  his  agent. 
Woe  and  death  to  all  those  who  shall  oppose  my  will !  Woe 
and  death  to  those  who  do  not  believe  in  my  mission !  Woe 
and  death  to  the  cowards !  Let  them  perish,  all  the  enemies 
of  the  German  people!  God  demands  their  destruction,  God 
who,  by  my  mouth,  bids  you  to  do  His  will !" 

In  another  proclamation  in  the  following  year  he  told  us 
very  clearly  the  goal  of  the  German  arms:  "The  triumph 
of  the  greater  Germany,  which  some  day  must  dominate  all 
Europe,  is  the  single  end  for  which  we  are  fighting." 

Do  not  let  brother  Maximilian  Harden  deceive  you  with 
soft  words  of  camouflage.     He  wrote  in  the  "Zukunft": 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  AMERICA'S  PART  IN  THE  WAR  47 

"One  principle  only  is  to  be  reckoned  with — one  which  sums 
up  and  includes  all  others — force !  Boast  of  that  and  scorn 
all  twaddle.  Force  !  that  is  what  rings  loud  and  clear ;  that 
is  what  has  distinction  and  fascination.  Force,  the  fist — 
that  is  everything.  Let  us  drop  our  pitiable  efforts  to 
excuse  Germany's  action ;  let  us  cease  heaping  contemptible 
insults  upon  the  enemy.  Not  against  our  will  were  we 
thrown  into  this  gigantic  adventure.  It  was  not  imposed  on 
us  by  surprise.  We  willed  it ;  we  were  bound  to  will  it.  Our 
force  will  create  a  new  law  in  Europe.  It  is  Germany  that 
strikes.  When  it  shall  have  conquered  new  fields  for  its 
genius,  then  the  priests  of  all  the  gods  will  exalt  the  war 
as  blessed." 

Last  and  least  of  these  citations  of  Prussian  ideals  is 
the  Zimmermann  letter  to  the  envoy  extraordinary  and  spy 
plenipotentiary  to  Mexico  (January  19,  1917)  regarding 
the  United  States.  It  seems  wise  to  remind  the  people  of 
it  again.  "On  the  first  of  February,"  wrote  Zimmermann, 
"we  intend  to  begin  unrestricted  submarine  warfare.  In 
spite  of  this,  it  is  our  intention  to  endeavor  to  keep  the 
United  States  of  America  neutral.  If  this  attempt  is  not 
successful,  we  propose  an  allig,nce  with  Mexico  on  the  fol- 
lowing basis:  We  shall  give  general  financial  support,  and 
it  is  understood  that  Mexico  is  to  reconquer  the  lost  terri- 
tory in  New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  Arizona.  The  details  are 
left  to  you  for  settlement.  You  are  instructed  to  inform 
the  President  of  Mexico  of  the  above,  in  the  greatest  con- 
fidence, as  soon  as  it  is  certain  that  there  will  be  an  out- 
break of  war  with  the  United  States,  and  to  suggest  thai 
the  President  of  Mexico,  on  his  own  initiative,  should  com- 
municate with  Japan  suggesting  adherence  at  once  to  this 
plan.  At  the  same  time  he  should  offer  to  mediate  between 
Germany  and  Japan.  Please  call  to  the  attention  of  the 
President  of  Mexico  that  the  employment  of  the  ruthless 
submarine  warfare  now  promises  to  compel  England  to 
make  peace  jn  a  few  months." 

More  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  War  of  1812,  Ger- 
many proposed  to  do  a  thousand-fold  over  the  iniquity  for 
which  we  fought  England  and  for  which  England  was  will- 


48  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

ing  later  on  to  fight  us.  Germany  establishes  huge  arbitrary 
sea  zones,  and  audaciously  says  that  if  our  vessels  so  much 
as  enter  those  zones  she  will  destroy  them  just  as  if  they 
were  belligerent  warships ;  and  this  after  solemnly  covenant- 
ing with  us  to  respect  our  vessels  in  the  war  zones,  on  pain 
of  our  positively  declared  intention  to  sever  relations  should 
she  not  do  so.  She  proposes  to  wrest  from  international 
law  its  one  most  precious  immunity,  the  freedom  of  the 
paths  of  the  seas,  and  to  enslave  the  ocean  paths  penna- 
nently,  by  this  atrocious  precedent,  to  the  will  of  Mars.  The 
pseudo-Napoleon  of  Germany  out-Herods  Herod,  and  calmly 
announces  a  permanent  Lusitania  policy  in  international 
law — making  crime  not  the  exception,  but  the  rule.  Had  our 
Government  refused  to  act,  we  should  have  been  unworthy 
to  survive;  as  the  present  Count  Bernstorff  himself  has 
said,  there  was  nothing  else  for  the  United  States  to  do.  It 
is  as  genuinely  an  American  war  as  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion itself,  and  in  proportion  as  our  people  realized  that 
fact  they  translated  their  thought  into  action. 


THE  CALL  FROM  THE  FIRING  LINE 
HON.  ALBERT  JOHNSON,  M.C. 

While  our  Congresisional  party  was  abroad  we  were 
informed  that  during  the  short  period  while  Belgium 
checked  and  delayed  the  German  invasion  France  raised  and 
equipped  an  army  of  more  than  7,000,000  men.  France  had 
a  population  at  that  time  of  39,000,000.  She  succeeded  in 
placing  7,000,000  men  under  arms.  Her  total  man  power — 
that  is,  men  between  the  ages  of  18  and  45 — at  that  time 
was  9,000,000.  Seven  men  out  of  every  nine  in  France  took 
up  arms  during  the  first  weeks  of  the  war. 

Since  that  fateful  day  in  1914,  when  the  German  Empire 
started  to  force  the  world  to  its  belief  that  might  makes 
right,  France  has  added  2,000,000  men  to  her  first  stupen- 
dous enrollment,  so  that  her  total  enlistments  have  been 
9,000,000,  or  as  many  as  her  total  man  power — 18  to  45 — 
at  the  beginning.     That  means  that  France  has  placed  in 


THE   CALL   FROM    THE    FIRING    LINE  49 

her  armies  almost  every  boy  who  has  become  of  military 
age  since  the  beginning  of  the  war. 

What  is  the  enlisted  strength  of  France  now?  France 
now  has,  or  rather  had,  at  the  end  of  throe  years'  fighting 
6,000,000  men  in  her  army.  And  that  6,000,000  represented 
92.34  per  cent  of  her  present  man  power.  Is  not  that  a 
most  astonishing  statement?  Of  all  the  men  available  for 
war  purposes  in  France  at  the  present  time,  92.34  per  cent 
are  with  the  colors. 

France  had  lost  in  killed  at  the  end  of  three  years  1,580,- 
000  men,  or  17.56  per  cent  of  her  total  enlistment.  In  per- 
manently wounded,  the  French  loss  is  given  at  921,328,  or 
10.24  per  cent  of  her  total  enlistment.  Her  captured  or 
missing  amounted,  at  about  the  first  of  July,  1917,  to  696,- 
548,  or  7.74  per  cent.  I  doubt  if  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  even  with  the  knowledge  that  has  come  during  the 
raising  of  our  own  great  Army,  can  realize  what  France 
has  done  in  putting  men  into  her  army  or  comprehend  the 
losses  which  she  sustained  in  checking  the  invading  army  of 
Germany,  and  which  she  finally  turned  back  20  miles  from 
Paris. 

Gen.  Joffre,  after  retreating  slowly  from  the  frontier, 
fighting  all  the  way,  told  his  men  to  stand  and  die  at  the 
Marne.  His  brave  soldiers  stood,  but  they  did  not  all  die. 
They  turned  the  Battle  of  the  Marne  into  a  victory  and 
forced  the  Germans  to  fall  back.  And  when  the  Germans 
fell  back  there  began  the  retreat  of  monarchies  before 
democracies,  which  continues  and  shall  continue  until  vic- 
tory is  ours. 

Before  we  discuss  the  losses  of  the  British,  I  think  we 
should  remind  ourselves  that  Belgium  and  France  were 
forced  to  do  nearly  all  of  the  fighting  the  first  year.  Bel- 
gium stood  against  the  invading  hordes  until  she  was  well- 
nigh  exhausted,  reduced  to  a  fighting  force  of  little  more 
than  160,000  men,  and,  mind  you,  Belgium  had  a  popula- 
tion of  7,600,000  and  fighting  men  in  proportion. 

Then  France  took  up  the  great  struggle,  and  in  one  year 
wrote  the  greatest  page  ever  written  in  history.    The  Battle 
4 


50  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

of  the  Marne  will  stand  out  as  the  great  decisive  battle  of 
the  world. 

England  sent  to  France  as  quickly  as  possible  most  of 
her  regular  army — an  expeditionary  force  of  160,000  men — 
the  "contemptible  little  army,"  as  the  German  Emperor 
called  it.  That  army  was  almost  annihilated.  It  fought  at 
Mons  and  at  the  first  battle  of  the  Ypres,  and  helped  to  roll 
the  invaders  back  from  the  Marne.  One  division  went  into 
battle  12,000  strong,  with  400  officers.  It  came  out  3,000 
strong,  with  50  officers.  By  the  end  of  November,  1914, 
hardly  a  man  of  England's  "old"  army  was  left.  But  France 
was  saved.  England's  expeditionary  force  played  its  part 
in  checking  the  carefully  prepared  and  long-premeditated 
invasion. 

Now  comes  the  winter  of  1914  and  spring  of  1915 ;  Eng- 
land's army  wiped  out.  Great  Britain  unprepared,  just  as 
the  United  States  was  unprepared  last  spring.  France 
fought  on  almost  alone  that  winter  and  nearly  all  that  next 
year.  The  men  of  France  died  and,  perishing,  saved 
Europe. 

As  quickly  as  possible  Great  Britain  raised  a  large  army. 
The  figures  show  that  the  man  power  of  Great  Britain  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war — that  is,  men  between  the  ages  of 
18  and  45 — was  12,000,000.  The  present  man  power  is 
11,000,000.  The  total  men  enlisted  by  Great  Britain  are 
6,000,000,  according  to  calculations  made  about  the  first 
of  August,  1917 ;  the  present  men  enlisted,  5,000,000.  The 
present  enlistment  percentage  of  present  man  power  is  45.45 
per  cent.  Those  figures  include  Great  Britain  and  not  the 
colonies.  When  we  come  to  the  list  of  men  killed  the  colo- 
nies are  included.  The  number  given  killed  for  Great  Brit- 
ain and  colonies  is  298,988.  That  is  a  percentage  of  the 
total  enlistment  of  4.98 ;  seriously  wounded,  177,224,  or 
2.95  per  cent;  captured  or  missing,  184,452. 

Let  me  clear  up  a  misunderstanding  which  prevails  con- 
cerning Great  Britain  and  the  colonies.  How  often  do  we 
hear  it  said  throughout  the  United  States  that  the  British 
Empire  has  raised  a  great  army,  but  that  England  has  held 
back  her  troops  and  permitted  the  troops  of  Canada  and 


THE   CALL   FROM    THE   FIRING   LINE  51 

Australia  to  do  the  fighting  and  dying.  The  troops  of  the 
colonies  have  fought  gallantly  and  died  nobly,  but  have  not 
been  sacrificed  out  of  proportion  to  the  troops  of  the  rest  of 
the  British  Empire, 

Our  party  of  Congressmen  abroad  had  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  Mr.  Lloyd-George  in  the  House  of  Commons  pay 
a  tribute  to  the  amiies  of  the  British  Empire,  and  in  the 
course  of  his  remarks  he  said  that  of  the  great  armies  fur- 
nished by  the  British  Empire  England  has  contributed  75 
per  cent  and  England  has  sustained  75  per  cent  of  the  losses. 

To  make  the  words  of  that  distinguished  statesman  quite 
clear  in  this  country  I  think  it  well  to  say  that  when  one 
says  Great  Britain  one  m.eans  the  British  Isles;  when  one 
says  Scotland  one  means  Scotland ;  when  one  says  England 
he  means  England  alone,  not  Scotland,  Wales  and  Ireland ; 
and  when  one  says  the  Empire  one  means  the  British  Isles, 
the  dominions,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  and 
all  the  possessions  that  go  to  make  the  entire  British 
Empire.  In  passing  let  me  state  that  Canada  had  contrib- 
uted to  August  1,  1917,  between  700,000  and  800,000  men 
to  the  Empire's  force,  or  fully  five  times  as  many  as  the 
original  expeditionary  force  sent  from  England  to  France. 

Some  statistics  are  obtainable  as  to  the  man  power  and 
losses  of  Germany.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  man 
pov/er  of  Germany — men  from  18  to  45 — was  14,000,000; 
present  man  power,  9,400,000.  Total  men  enlisted  since 
the  v/ar  began,  10,500,000;  present  enlistment,  7,000,000; 
present  enlistment  per  cent  of  man  power,  74.47 ;  the  num- 
ber of  men  killed  in  the  German  armies  amounted  to  1,908,- 
800  in  July,  1917. 

Up  to  about  July  1,  1917,  the  Germans  had  lost  in  cap- 
tured 704,000,  seriously  wounded  958,000.  Austria  has  had 
hea\y  losses  also.  That  nation  has  enlisted  7,000,000  since 
the  war  began  and  now  has  4,000,000  enlisted,  or  35.87  per 
cent  of  her  man  power.  She  has  lost  in  killed  849,000; 
seriously  wounded,  540,674;  captured  or  missing,  833,600. 

The  figures  show  Germany  to  have  lost  about  30,000 
more,  on  estimates  to  July  1,  1917,  than  Great  Britain  and 
France  combined.     Since  August  1  the  losses  to  all  forces 


52  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

have  been  very  heavy,  but  have  not  been  reported  except 
by  Great  Britain,  which  lost  in  killed,  captured,  and  wounded 
870,000  men  in  August,  September,  October,  and  November 
of  1917. 

Germany's  greatest  loss  at  one  place  was  at  Verdun.  It 
is  estimated  that  one-third  of  all  her  casualties  occurred 
in  and  close  around  that  great  French  fort.  The  party  of 
Congressmen  were  privileged  to  visit  that  famous  fort  and 
the  battle  fields  about  it.  We  went  down  the  slope  on  the 
far  side  of  Verdun  Hill,  and  as  we  were  climbing  the  slope 
of  Souville  Hill,  next  beyond,  the  French  general  in  charge 
stopped  us,  not  far  from  the  sky  line,  and  said:  "Gentle- 
men, this  is  as  far  as  the  Germans  came  in  their  tremen- 
dous assault  on  Verdun  in  February  a  year  ago  under  the 
Crown  Prince.  If  all  those  who  fell  dead  in  that  terrible 
assault  and  all  of  those  who  perished  in  that  magnificent 
defense  were  here  nov/,  dead  on  the  ground,  their  bodies 
would  be  piled  five  deep  on  these  slopes." 

As  he  spoke,  the  general,  with  a  wave  of  his  arm,  covered 
all  of  the  ground  within  range  of  the  eye.  He  said  further : 
"The  Germans  are  estimated  to  have  lost  600,000  men  in 
dead  alone.    The  French  lost  in  dead  400,000." 

As  we  stood  on  those  blood-soaked  hills  we  were  sad- 
dened beyond  measure.  We  were  not  witnessing  a  battle,, 
although  the  French  were  firing  artilleiy  shells  over  our 
heads,  and  from  the  other  side  of  Souville  Hill  exploding 
shells  were  being  sent  our  way.  We  were  stunned  at  the 
statements  of  war's  cost  in  human  life.  Two  military  ceme- 
teries were  there — one  near  the  fort  and  one  nearer  the 
town.  We  were  told  that  these  cemeteries  contained  the 
bodies  of  10,000  soldiers — all  that  could  be  found  of  that 
enormous  number  of  dead.  The  rest  were  shot  away,  either 
blown  back  to  the  elements  by  that  tremendous  fall  of 
artillery  shell  or  else  lost  under  the  scarred  and  pock-marked 
earth,  which  has  been  churned  and  turned  over  and  over 
again  to  a  depth  in  many  places  of  30  feet. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  these  tremendous  figures  which  I 
have  presented  concerning  loss  of  life,  the  actual  death  rate, 
as  shown  by  the  mortality  records  of  the  war,  is  not  more 


THE  CALL  FROM  THE  FIRING  LINE  53 

than  45  per  1,000  per  annum,  or  a  loss  of  life  of  about  1  in 
22  each  year.  The  Committee  on  Public  Information 
recently  gave  out  this  statement:  "Figures  taken  when  the 
casualties  were  greatest  in  proportion  to  mobilized  strength 
and  combined  with  the  highest  proportion  of  deaths  show 
losses  to  deaths  from  wounds  and  killed  in  action  to  be 
approximately  11  in  eveiy  1,000  of  mobilized  strength." 

One  cannot  learn  of  these  losses  without  being  brought 
to  deep  reflection.  One  cannot  learn  of  the  sufferings 
endured  by  Belgium  without  being  saddened  for  a  lifetime. 
One  cannot  traverse  the  devastated  portion  of  France  and 
ever  expect  to  have  that  dreadful  picture  effaced  from  his 
memory.  Our  soldiers  cannot  go  and  see  and  come  back 
the  same.  Those  whom  God  permits  to  return  will  come 
back  to  us  saddened,  deeply  religious,  and  sympathetic  for 
humankind  as  never  before. 

When  one  sees  the  horror  of  it  all  one  cries  out  in 
anguish.  One  asks.  Why  must  it  be?  Is  it  worth  all  the 
sacrifice?  Yes;  worth  all  that  has  been  made  and  all  that 
must  be  made.  Oh,  my  friends,  but  for  the  heroism  of  Bel- 
gium, but  for  the  sacrifices  of  France,  but  for  the  British 
Navy  and  the  determination  of  Great  Britain,  but  for  the 
new  vigor  of  Italy,  but  for  the  will  of  the  United  States 
to  take  up  the  fight  for  democracy  in  its  last  stand,  Prussia 
would  now  be  mistress  of  Europe  and  by  this  very  day  have 
been  hurling  her  spears  at  this  hemisphere. 

As  we  were  leaving  the  Continent  an  aid  to  the  King  of 
Belgium  gave  us  a  little  dinner  in  a  shell-wrecked  hotel  in 
a  Flemish  town,  which  was  even  then  being  bombarded. 
The  aid  to  Albert  of  Belgium  proposed  a  toast  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  the  King  of  Belgium.  The 
response  was  made  by  Representative  Stephens  of  Nebraska. 
He  spoke  for  all  of  the  members  of  our  party,  and  I  believe 
that  he  spoke  for  all  of  the  people  of  the  great  United  States 
when  he  said :  "Now  that  the  United  States  has  drawn  its 
sword,  may  that  sword  never  be  sheathed  until  the  rights  of 
these  wronged  peoples  be  restored  to  them  and  democracy 
made  safe  throughout  the  world." 


54  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

AMERICA'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  GERMAN  CHALLENGE 

STOCKTON  AXSON,  LITT.D.,  GENERAL  SECRETARY  OF  THE 
AMERICAN  RED  CROSS 

The  German  people  did  not  choose  this  course  them- 
selves. It  was  chosen  for  them.  They  were  simply  so 
arrested  in  their  political  development,  so  mediasvally  blind 
that  thej'  docilely  submitted  to  the  will  of  the  choosers.  How 
long  will  they  continue  to  submit?  The  world  is  suffering 
nightmare  because  the  German  mind  still  sleeps. 

The  challenge  came  from  autocracj^  to  democracy,  and 
we  may  be  quite  sure  that  the  answer  has  given  autocracy 
some  surprises.  For  one  thing,  the  war  has  lasted  so  much 
longer  than  autocracy  planned.  A  but  slightly  impeded 
rush  to  Paris,  the  crushing  the  life  out  of  France,  then  an 
invasion  of  England,  and  that  chapter  at  any  rate  of  the  war 
would  be  ended.  It  was  a  matter  of  a  few  months,  perhaps 
a  few  weeks.  But  we  are  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  year 
and  Paris  has  not  yet  been  reached,  and  Britain  is  stronger 
than  ever. 

For  another  thing,  autocracy  has  found  it  so  very  hard 
to  scare  people.  She  sank  the  Tuscania,  and  what  was  the 
result?  Such  a  rush  to  the  recruiting  offices  in  America  as 
had  not  been  known  since  the  opening  days  of  America's 
participation  in  the  war.  I  myself  have  been  the  indirect 
recipient  of  some  letters  from  people  in  far-away  portions 
of  our  country  who  have  written  to  their  Congressmen  that 
they  were  over  the  age  prescribed  by  the  army  and  wanted 
to  knov/  if  there  was  not  some  back  entrance  through  which 
they  could  slip  into  the  fighting  line,  and  Congressmen 
referred  some  of  these  letters  to  me  in  the  hope  that  the 
Red  Cross  might  find  some  service  for  these  determined 
belligerents. 

That  was  an  effective  cartoon  which  represented  Von 
Hindenberg,  half  gorilla,  half  Hindenberg,  and  all  monster, 
waist  deep  in  brine  and  filth,  shaking  his  frenzied  fists  and 
asking,  with  amazement  written  all  over  his  brutish  counte- 
nance, "Why  don't  you  get  frightened?"  Germany  has 
been  dropping  bombs  on  London  for  years  and  still  London 


AMERICA'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  GERMAN  CHALLENGE  55 

is  not  frightened.  There  could  be  no  other  object  to  these 
tactics  than  to  scare  England ;  certainly  no  military  advan- 
tage could  accrue.  Nor  yet  from  the  forays  of  her  navy 
contingents  on  unguarded  coast  towns  of  England ;  nor  yet 
from  that  mysterious  gun  which  at  intervals  of  twenty  and 
twelve  minutes  dropped  projectiles  on  Paris.  All  through 
Palm  Sunday  the  missiles  fell  with  the  regularity  of  the 
clock's  motion.  Surely  Paris  would  be  terrorized  now,  for, 
added  to  the  material  dread  of  exploding  bombs,  there  is  the 
immaterial,  that  which  comes  from  mystery.  "Whence 
come  these  shells?"  people  were  asking.  And  not  knowing, 
they  would  surely  be  frightened.  But  we  read  that  Parisians 
went  about  all  day,  afoot  and  in  vehicles,  to  their  churches, 
to  their  cafes,  to  visit  neighbors.  We  read  how  the  old 
women  of  Paris  sold  their  palm  branches  as  they  always 
had  on  Palm  Sunday.  Not  even  the  old  peddler  women  of 
Paris  could  be  frightened.  No,  Herr  Hindenberg,  it  can't 
be  done. 

The  primary  effect  of  the  challenge  on  America  has  been 
to  arm  America,  to  turn  this  peaceful  democracy  into  a  mili- 
tary nation — only  temporarily,  I  earnestly  hope.  We  have 
changed  all  our  habits,  reversed  our  ratio  of  values.  Ameri- 
cans, who  used  to  be  so  eager  to  make  money,  have  to  a 
considerable  degree  forgotten  all  about  making  money  and 
are  interested  mainly  in  spending  it  for  the  Government  and 
being  spent  by  the  Government. 

Germany  expected  to  stop  transatlantic  traffic.  A  Red 
Cross  commissioner  to  Serbia  was  talking  with  a  German 
officer  who  asked  him  when  he  had  come  over.  He  replied, 
"In  August."  "It's  a  lie,"' said  the  officer;  "nobody  has 
crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  since  the  unrestricted  submarine 
warfare  began."  Undoubtedly  he  believed  it.  His  govern- 
ment had  planned  to  stop  all  transatlantic  traffic,  and  then 
it  characteristically  lied,  saying  that  it  was  stopped.  But 
the  traffic  goes  right  on. 

What  have  we  been  doing  all  these  years  that  Germany 
was  making  her  preparations  for  this  murderous  assault 
on  the  world's  liberty?  Of  course  much  that  she  did  was 
secret,  but  much  else  was  no  secret  at  all.    We  knew  about 


56  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

that  army  of  hers.  We  knew  about  that  navy  she  was  build- 
ing. We  knew  of  that  toast,  drunk  nightly  on  the  ships  of 
Germany — "Der  Tag."  We  knew  the  national  philosophy 
that  Germany  was  inculcating,  the  philosophy  of  might,  of 
superman,  of  national  aggrandizement,  of  world-compre- 
hending ambition — a  political  philosophy  of  world-extensive 
empire  combined  with  an  ethical  philosophy  that  pity  is  the 
only  sin — the  politics  of  Bismarck  married  to  the  philosophy 
of  Nietzsche,  and  both  subject  to  the  bidding  of  the  supreme 
war  council. 

We  knew  all  this — why  did  we  do  nothing  about  it? 
Because  it  was  not  "our  business."  Because  we  were  a 
peaceful,  democratic,  industrial  people,  living  to  ourselves 
on  these  protected  shores,  having  no  part  in  the  conflicts 
and  mixed  purposes  of  Europe.  Surely  we  see  now  where 
we  made  our  crucial  mistake.  We  were  living  in  a  neigh- 
borhood without  realizing  it.  We  were  trying  to  lead  the 
isolated  life  of  the  hermit,  whereas  in  fact  our  future  and 
our  fortunes  were  inextricably  tied  up  with  the  things  that 
affect  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  have  learned  the  lesson 
now ;  never  again  shall  the  doctrine  of  isolation  be  preached 
to  America.  We  know  now  that  modem  science  and  modem 
commerce  have  made  the  world  a  "neighborhood"  in  reality. 
We  had  long  used  that  phrase,  but  our  use  of  it  was  purely 
academic,  perhaps  a  bit  Pickwickian.  Now  we  see  that  it 
was  a  phrase  full  of  portentous  meaning.  So  it  often  hap- 
pens in  the  individual's  life  that,  in  his  untroubled  imma- 
turity, he  prattles  phrases  which  he  has  heard  from  others, 
not  knowing  what  they  mean  until  experience  has  gripped 
him,  when  suddenly  the  phrase  is  understood  by  him  in  all 
its  bitter  tragic  force.  So  it  has  been  with  us  as  a  nation. 
Experience  has  taught  us  now  that  it  is  absolutely  impos- 
sible for  any  European  nation  to  plot  against  any  other 
European  nation  without  affecting  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth. 

Thus,  not  through  any  willfulness  or  deliberate  inten- 
tion to  avoid  duty,  but  simply  through  a  human  failure  to 
understand  our  position  in  the  world,  we  permitted  Ger- 
many to  go  on  unquestioned,  pursuing  her  affairs  as  if  they 


AMERICA'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  GERMAN  CHALLENGE  57 

were  only  her  affairs  and  not  ours,  making  her  diligent 
preparation  for  the  blow  which  she  meant  to  strike  and 
which  she  was  showing  by  every  political  utterance  and 
military  gesture  that  she  meant  to  strike.  And  now,  with 
the  rest  of  the  distracted  world,  we  have  got  to  pay  the 
penalty.  Thousands  of  American  boys  must  make  their  last 
bed  in  the  soil  of  France,  and  American  homes  will  be  like 
the  homes  of  ancient  Israel,  with  the  sign  of  the  death  of 
the  firstborn  over  the  lintel.  It  is  a  terrible  price  to  pay,  but 
it  must  be  paid. 

I  love  life — just  the  mere  fact  of  feeling  and  being  alive 
— but  I  realize,  as  you  do,  that  there  are  circumstances 
when  life  is  not  worth  while.  Deep  as  is  the  instinct  for 
physical  life  in  us,  there  is  something  even  deeper,  some- 
thing so  associated  with  our  instincts  of  life  that  it  seems 
life-like.  It  is  that  thing  for  which  our  forefathers  fought 
at  Lexington — Liberty.  Americans  cannot  conceive  of  life 
without  liberty,  and,  thank  God,  we  have  arrived  at  the 
stage  when  we  realize  that  it  is  not  sufficient  for  us  merely 
to  say  to  the  peoples  of  the  world,  "Come  to  us  and  we  will 
give  you  liberty,"  but  that  we  must  take  this  precious  thing 
to  them  with  our  guns  and  our  ships  and  our  armies. 

Sometimes  we  are  forced  to  seek  the  ultimate  meaning  of 
this  war  in  its  relationship  to  the  generations  yet  unborn. 
I  have  always  admired  those  men  who  plant  groves  and 
forests  of  slow-maturing  trees,  knowing  quite  well  that  they 
themselves  will  never  enjoy  the  shade,  but  visioning  their 
children  happy  in  the  forests.  So  it  is  now.  With  w^eapons 
of  war,  on  fields  harrowed  by  shells  and  fertilized  with  the 
blood  of  our  best  born,  we  are  planting  the  seed  of  liberty 
that  our  children  may  live  in  a  world  altogether  fit  for 
human  beings.  We  are  in  one  of  those  great  tragic  crises 
which  come  from  time  to  time  to  individuals,  to  groups,  and 
to  nations,  when  only  the  long  thought  can  be  the  hopeful 
thought.  If  we  think  about  to-morrow  only,  we  must  be 
pessimists.  But  we  look  through  the  lurid  murk  and  smoke 
and  flame  and  see  cloud-shaped  promises  of  a  better  future. 

Democracy  and  humanity  are  almost  interchangeable 
terms.    Neither  is  perfect.    Both  we  hope  are  in  the  way 


58  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

of  bettennent.  Certainly  each  is  better  than  its  opposite. 
Humanity  is  better  than  inhumanity.  Democracy  is  better 
than  autocracy.  Sometimes  I  am  irritated,  sometimes 
amused,  at  things  I  hear  said  about  democracy.  People  point 
to  admitted  and  notorious  flaws  in  the  operation  of  democ- 
racy and  ask  with  a  sneer:  "How  can  you  be  enthusiastic 
about  democracy  with  this  thing  prevailing?"  Surely  the 
answer  is  very  clear.  It  is  in  the  form  of  another  question : 
"What  do  you  offer  in  the  place  of  it?  Autocracy?"  There 
is  nothing  else  to  offer.  One  of  the  good  things  about  this 
war,  which  has  so  many  terrible  meanings,  is  that  it  has 
made  perfectly  clear  to  us  that  it  must  be  decided  now  which 
is  to  possess  the  earth,  democracy  or  autocracy.  We  see 
now  that,  because  this  world  is  a  realized  neighborhood, 
these  two  cannot  dwell  together.  In  Shakespeare's  "King 
Henry  IV."  there  is  a  fine  passage  in  which  Hotspur  and 
Prince  Hal  meet  for  the  first,  last,  and  only  time.  They 
have  been  hearing  reports  of  each  other  all  through  the 
play.  Shakespeare,  with  the  art  of  a  master  dramatist,  has 
kept  them  in  contrast  before  us  throughout  the  entire  play 
without  ever  bringing  them  face  to  face.  At  last,  in  the  heat 
of  battle,  these  two  come  upon  each  other.  It  is  one  of 
those  splendid  dramatic  moments  which  only  great 
dramatists  achieve,  where  what  has  been  going  on  through- 
out the  play  suddenly  culminates  in  one  tense  moment.  And 
as  these  two  young  men  stand  facing  each  other,  swords 
drav.m,  ready  for  the  conflict.  Prince  Hal  says : 

"I  am  the  Prince  of  Wales;  and  think  not,  Percy, 
To  share  with  me  in  glorjr*any  more: 
Two  stars  keep  not  their  motion  in  one  sphere; 
Nor  can  one  England  brook  a  double  reign. 
Or  Harry  Percy  and  the  Prince  of  Wales." 

This  is  the  situation  as  between  democracy  and  autoc- 
racy. For  a  hundred  years  and  more  there  have  been  rumors 
and  partisan  claims  of  the  benefits  and  defects  of  each,  but 
now  the  Supreme  Artificer  of  the  universe  has  arrr^ngcd, 
or  at  least  permitted  it  to  be  arranged,  that  these  two  should 
stand  face  to  face  on  the  field  of  battle.  One  or  the  other 
must  go. 


AMERICA'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  GERMAN  CHALLENGE  59 

And  according  to  which  goes,  shall  it  be  determined 
whether  the  progress  of  the  world  shall  be  backward  or 
forward.  That  is  not  my  dogma;  it  is  simple  history. 
Autocracy  was  the  method  of  the  past ;  democracy  has  been 
the  method  of  only  the  recent  present.  This  war  will 
determine  v/hich  shall  control  the  future.  I  know  of  no  other 
case  in  history  in  which  the  hands  of  the  clock  have  been 
turned  back.  It  is  not  going  to  be  so  in  this  instance.  I 
think  the  future  is  to  prevail  over  the  past. 

He  who  believes  in  democracy  believes  in  it  as  an  organic 
thing  capable  of  development  and  fulfillments.  Its  fruition  is 
a  great  "to-come."  Democracy  has  its  defects,  and  they  are 
man5\  But  the  worst  that  democracy  can  do  is  very  little 
as  compared  with  v/hat  autocracy  has  been  doing  these 
past  four  years.  Democracy  never  could  gage  a  wholesale 
war  for  conquest,  for  the  simple  reason  that  when  the  peo- 
ple have  their  ov/n  way  the  people  see  that  they  themselves 
have  not  enough  at  stake  to  compensate  them  for  the  stu- 
pendous sacrifice  that  must  be  made.  It  is  the  ambition  of 
kings  and  the  pride  of  war  lords  that  instigate  wars  of 
conquest.  Where  the  people  are  choosers,  there  is  not  suf- 
ficient motive  of  ambition  and  pride  to  start  such  a  war. 
And  because  this  is  so,  I  believe  firmly  that  democracy  at 
its  worst  is  better  than  autocracy  at  its  best.  For  democracy 
at  least  leaves  people  free  to  choose  evil  if  they  prefer  evil. 
But  autocracy  leaves  no  freedom  of  choice  at  all.  Nearly 
fifty  years  ago  Walt  Whitman  said  a  very  wise  thing  in  his 
"Democratic  Vistas" — a  book,  by  the  way,  which,  if  I  had 
my  will,  every  school  child  in  the  country  would  be  required 
to  read.  He  said  in  effect  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  democracy  is  the  best  imaginable  form  of  gov- 
ernment, but  that  it  is  the  only  form  of  government  which 
the  future  is  going  to  put  up  with,  the  only  government  that 
the  people  will  tolerate.  In  the  face  of  that  simple  fact 
questions  of  perfection,  questions  even  of  "better  or  worse" 
become  trivial. 

Democracy  in  fighting  for  itself  is  fighting  for  humanity, 
and  it  is  proper  and  comely  that  in  waging  democracy's 
wars  every  effort  should  be  made  to  abate  its  miseries.    And 


60  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

that  is  what  your  Red  Cross  is  undertaking  to  do.  For  of 
course  it  is  your  Red  Cross,  not  mine,  not  the  property  of 
any  set  of  officers  either  in  Washington,  or  New  Orleans,  or 
Birmingham,  but  the  property  of  the  American  people.  It 
is  an  expression  of  their  will,  and  the  organization  of  their 
effort  to  lessen  the  misery  of  the  world,  first  of  the  sol- 
diers, then  of  the  civilian  population — soldiers  both  of  Amer- 
ica and  of  our  Allies,  the  civilian  population  of  all  lands 
whereon  the  desolating  blight  of  war  has  fallen.  Because 
we  are  all  fighting  with  the  same  object,  not  merely  for  this 
war  or  for  that  war,  but  for  the  great  principle  that  all 
countries  shall  have  the  right  of  self-determination,  we  are 
extending  our  Red  Cross  to  our  Allies  as  heartily  as  we  are 
extending  it  to  ourselves. 

Red  Cross  is  sometimes  criticised  because  it  seems  to  be 
doing  more  for  Europe  than  it  is  doing  for  America,  send- 
ing more  money  to  France  than  is  appropriated  in  our  own 
country.  Of  the  something  less  than  $80,000,000  appro- 
priated up  to  the  first  of  March,  much  the  largest  item  is 
$30,000,000  to  France.  This  is  because  the  war  is  being 
fought  in  France,  not  in  America,  and  it  is  in  the  actual 
theater  of  the  war  that  the  need  is  greatest.  So  Red  Cross 
went  immediately  to  France,  both  to  be  of  assistance  to  our 
Allies  and  to  make  all  possible  preparation  for  the  arrival 
of  our  soldiers. 

If  you  stop  to  think  about  it,  this  volunteer  relief  move- 
ment of  yours  got  mobilized  and  into  the  field  much  sooner 
than  the  military  forces  of  the  government.  There  was 
never  a  better  example  of  the  need  of  volunteer  aid  than  this 
war  has  shown,  of  the  fact  that  volunteers  organize  them- 
selves and  render  their  emergency  assistance  in  their  own 
deft,  elastic,  plastic  way  better  than  is  possible  by  the  slower 
routine  of  the  best  ordered  government.  Of  course  this  is 
no  reflection  on  the  government,  whose  processes  ought  to 
be  deliberate,  for  there  is  danger  in  governmental  haste. 
There  are  some  things  which  only  a  government  can  do, 
such  as  organizing,  equipping,  and  training  an  army.  But 
because  of  the  very  fact  that  relief  is  an  emergency  matter, 
it  is  better  administered  when  free  of  constitutional  routine 


AMERICA'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  GERMAN  CHALLENGE  61 

and  legal  checks.  So,  in  an  astonishingly  short  time,  Red 
Cross  was  organized  on  a  scalfe  commensurate  with  the 
vastness  of  the  world  war  in  which  it  was  to  participate. 
From  less  than  a  half  million  members  it  has  increased  to 
twenty-two  million ;  from  555  branches,  chapters,  and  aux- 
iliaries, to  more  than  31,000;  from  an  annual  incorpe  of 
$2,000,000  to  an  annual  expenditure  of  approximately  $100,- 
000,000.  It  has  run  its  line  of  relief  from  army  canton- 
ments on  the  Pacific  Coast  to  the  impoverished  inhabitants 
of  Roumania,  Palestine,  and  the  Russian  Steppes,  and  it  has 
expended  money  on  a  scale  varied  from  the  complete 
rebuilding  of  a  French  village  to  the  cost  of  a  warm  jacket 
for  a  little  shivering  French  girl. 

The  lion's  share  of  appropriation  went  to  France,  with 
the  thought  always  uppermost  in  our  minds  that  it  is  in 
France  that  we  must  ultimately  render  the  most  aid  to  the 
American  soldiers;  for  it  is  there  that  his  pinch  will  be 
the  sharpest.  The  hospitals  of  many  varieties  and  all  mod- 
ern equipment,  the  houses  of  rest  behind  the  trenches,  the 
rolling  canteens,  and  all  the  devices  to  make  the  burden  of 
the  soldiers'  living  a  little  more  tolerable  and  the  burden  of 
his  suffering  a  little  more  easy — all  this  was  prepared  with 
the  knowledge  that  in  due  time  the  chief  objects  of  our  min- 
istration would  be  our  own  flesh  and  blood,  the  boys  of 
America  gone  to  France  to  fight  this  war  because  it  is  in 
France  that  the  war  is  being  fought.  Red  Cross  merely 
preceded  the  armies  to  France. 

But  Red  Cross  caught  the  vision  of  Allied  unification 
from  the  start — the  idea  now  realized  in  military''  arrange- 
ment by  putting  General  Foch  in  supreme  command  of  the 
Western  forces.  Red  Cross  felt  that  its  service  must  be  to 
the  French  and  Belgian  soldiers,  to  the  British  (when  they 
should  need  it)  as  well  as  to  the  American  soldiers,  and 
then,  looking  beyond  the  Western  front  to  those  Allies  in 
the  East,  to  the  Russians  and  Roumanians,  while  they  were 
still  fighting,  to  the  Serbians,  who  never  cease  fighting,  and 
now,  through  our  latest  Commission,  to  the  mixed  forces 
in  Palestine;  and  wherever  a  soldier  is  fighting  the  Teu- 
tonic monster  for  the  sake  of  the  world's  liberty,  that  sol- 


62  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

dier  is  our  Ally,  and  deserves  such  help  as  America  can 
give  him. 

If  there  is  one  thing  that  I  hold  in  my  heart  more  pas- 
sionately than  anything  else,  with  such  a  passion  indeed 
that  it  is  never  easy  to  speak  of  it  without  loss  of  self- 
control,  it  is  the  faith  that  the  grand  and  final  purpose  of 
this  war  is  to  end  war.  My  friends,  if  that  is  not  the  ulti- 
mate meaning  of  this  war,  then  it  seems  to  me  that  we  must 
suppose  that  old  Hugo  von  Trinberg  was  right  when  he 
opined  that  "God  Almighty  must  needs  laugh  at  his  won- 
drous manikins  below."  Old  Hugo  was  a  saner  German 
than  Emperor  William ;  and  though  he  did  not  presume  to 
be  on  William's  familiar  terms  with  God,  he  guessed  some 
things  about  God  that  surely  must  be  true.  Surely  God 
must  either  laugh  or  weep,  to  see  us  doing  what  we  are 
doing  now,  if  we  have  any  other  object  in  the  doing  of  it 
than  to  end  the  doing  of  it  for  all  time.  Fighting  for 
democracy,  fighting  for  humanity,  fighting  to  end  war — 
these  are  the  things  that  make  this  war  seem  worth  the  cost 
of  it,  and  I  can  think  of  nothing  else  that  would  make  it 
worth  the  price. 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 

REV.   CHARLES   S.    MACFARLAND,  D.D.,   PH.D.,   GENERAL   SECRE- 
TARY OF  THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CHURCHES  OF 
CHRIST  IN  AMERICA  AND  A  MEMBER  OF  THE  NA- 
TIONAL COMMITTEE  ON  THE  CHURCHES  AND 
MORAL  AIMS  OF  THE  WAR 

"Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you;  not 
as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart 
be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid." 

These  words  of  Jesus  are  from  his  most  striking  para- 
dox. The  lips  that  spoke  them  were  those  of  one  whose  life 
was  far  removed  from  peace.  It  was  a  troubled  life,  filled 
with  controversy,  with  disappointment,  with  neglect.  How 
could  Jesus  look  these  disciples  in  the  face  in  these  last 
hours  as  he  faced  a  cruel  death  and  tell  them  that  his  last 
gift  to  them  was  the  gift  of  peace? 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  63 

In  the  second  place,  a  very  hasty  review  of  the  subse- 
quent lives  and  experiences  of  those  disciples  makes  it  per- 
fectly clear  that  they  did  not  receive  the  bequest.  Their 
lives  were  the  counterpart  of  his  own  troubled  life. 

Still  further,  did  not  Jesus  contradict  his  own  words 
and  in  one  of  his  moments  of  clearer  thought  tell  them, 
"Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth ;  I  came 
not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword"? 

This  nation  of  ours  has  been  for  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  a  peace  seeker.  Never  has  it  sought  so  diligently 
as  in  these  four  momentous  years,  but  it  has  sought  in  vain. 

But  let  us  think  for  a  moment:  Is  this  the  truth?  Is 
it  not  rather  true  that  now  during  this  past  year  our  nation 
has  really  found  peace?  Let  us  go  back  again  to  those 
words  of  Jesus  and  read  them  once  more;  they  are  very 
carefully  uttered.  After  telling  the  disciples  that  he  gives 
them  the  bequest  of  peace  he  is  very  careful  to  add  "My 
peace  I  give  unto  you,"  and  he  distinctly  tells  them  that  he 
gives  "not  as  the  world  giveth." 

He  distinguishes  between  his  own  and  between  their 
outward  and  inward  life.  The  Gethsemane  and  the  Calvary 
which  he  faced  at  that  moment  and  which  they  were  to  face 
was  the  price  of  that  peace. 

I  have  often  wished  that  I  had  the  genius  of  the  artist 
that  I  might  paint  a  series  of  pictures  depicting  and  inter- 
preting, in  striking  colors,  the  life  of  Jesus.  If  I  were  such 
an  artist,  I  would  begin  my  set  of  pictures  with  the  young 
boy  standing  before  the  teachers  in  the  Temple  and  out 
through  the  window  of  the  Temple  far  distant  and  dim  I 
would  portray  ihe  cross.  I  would  picture  him  through  the 
forty  days  in  the  v/ilderness  with  the  cross  coming  nearer, 
so  that  its  outlines  now  are  clear.  I  would  paint  him  as  he 
wends  his  way  along  the  dusty  road  as  the  disciples  leave 
him.  I  would  picture  him  standing  before  the  scornful 
Pharisees  in  the  presence  of  Pilate,  upon  the  mountain  side, 
in  the  garden,  and  at  the  last  supper.  In  every  one  of  these 
pictures  I  would  bring  the  cross  a  little  nearer. 

Under  every  picture  I  would  put  these  striking  words 
of  Luke,  "He  steadfastly  set  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem." 


64  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

And  I  would  like  to  place  that  series  of  pictures  in  every 
college  hall,  in  every  legislative  assembly,  in  our  own  capitol 
at  Washington,  in  every  camp  and  barracks  of  our  army  and 
our  navy. 

My  friends,  our  nation  now  faces  the  Holy  City.  God 
grant  that  it  may  steadfastly  set  its  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem ! 
Our  nation  is  now  finding  the  peace  of  Jesus. 

We  are  thus  here  to-day  to  consider  this  conflict  from 
the  viewpoint  of  religious  men  and  women.  It  is  not  enough 
that  we  should  accept  a  common  and  superficial  view  of 
patriotism  and  be  thoughtlessly  loyal  to  our  nation;  it  is 
our  solemn  duty  to  consider  the  conflict  in  which  we  are 
engaged  in  its  profounder  issues,  in  its  moral  and  spiritual 
aspects.  I  shall  not  take  these  moments  to  recount  the 
awful  and  atrocious  deeds,  sickening  to  my  heart  as  they 
were  when  I  beheld  them,  for  it  is  not  enough  for  us  to  find 
the  final  basis  of  our  struggle  in  these  wretched  embodi- 
ments of  an  unrelenting  rage,  and  there  are  deeper  issues 
for  our  thought. 

The  very  day  the  war  broke  out  I  sat  in  a  peace  con- 
ference in  the  little  city  of  Constance,  in  Germany  itself, 
with  half  a  hundred  leaders  from  a  dozen  nations,  includ- 
ing all  of  those  now  engaged  in  conflict.  War  was  abhor- 
rent to  me  then  and,  let  me  say,  it  is  infinitely  more  abhor- 
rent to  me  now. 

For  nearly  three  years,  in  such  humble  ways  as  were 
open  to  me,  I  sought  to  find  the  path  to  justice  without 
further  prolonged  struggle,  and  two  years  ago,  in  a  repre- 
sentative capacity,  I  threaded  my  way  between  mines  and 
submarines,  across  the  ocean,  through  the  Channel  and  the 
North  Sea,  in  the  prayerful  hope  that  I  might  find  the  way. 
And  whatever  may  be  the  issue,  I  wish  to  stand  before  you 
as  one  who,  with  clear  conscience  and  with  the  sense  of 
exhausted  effort,  can  say  the  things  that  I  shall  say. 

I  still  believe  that  war,  upon  the  part  of  the  aggressor, 
is  absolutely  without  any  justifying  sanction;  that  war, 
even  of  defense,  cannot  receive  the  assent  of  the  Christian 
conscience  unless  it  be  even  more  than  utilitarian  defense 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  65 

itself;  unless  it  be  resistance  in  behalf  of  others  and  the 
defense  of  moral  and  spiritual  ideals. 

And  that  even  then  the  Christian  conscience  cannot  give 
its  sanction  unless  every  other  means  known  to  the  human 
mind  and  heart  have  first  been  sought  and  tried,  to  bring 
justice  and  righteousness  without  it. 

One  cannot  formulate  the  moral  conscience  which  we  are 
seeking  without  at  least  a  brief  survey  of  the  courses  of 
procedure,  in  contrast  to  each  other,  of  the  tM'"0  groups  of 
nations  which  now  stand  over  against  each  other  before 
the  world,  to  see  whether  or  not  these  conditions  have  been 
met.  We  must  consider  the  moral  ideals  which  are  at  stake 
in  the  light  of  the  stern  human  experience  of  these  four 
momentous  years. 

Two  things  stand  out  so  clearly  that  it  is  almost  waste- 
ful to  debate  them.  The  one  is  that  the  German  nation  had 
for  years  planned  and  prepared  for  what  has  come;  that 
in  conference  after  conference  at  the  Hague,  hers  was  the 
one  force  that  persistently  obstructed  and  finally  prevented 
those  international  formularies  which  would  have  led  the 
nations  out  into  the  light  of  heaven,  and  it  is  trivial  to  ask 
the  question  in  the  light  of  experience  and  event:  Did  the 
German  nation  start  out  with  the  deliberate  purpose  of  the 
physical  mastery  of  Europe  and  the  world?  Is  it  not  the 
part  of  sensible  men  and  v/omen  to  estimate  what  the 
Imperial  Government  intended  to  do  by  what  it  has  actually 
done,  with  its  iron  heel  upon  Belgium,  its  hand  upon  the 
neck  of  France,  with  its  domination  over  the  whole  Balkan 
section,  over  Austria-Hungary,  over 'Poland,  over  Turkey, 
and  now  to-day  with  its  ruthless  subjugation  of  the  whole 
Russian  Empire,  while  the  neutral  states,  Switzerland,  the 
Scandinavian  countries,  and  Holland,  live  in  trembling  fear 
of  its  endless  subtleties  and  its  unscrupulous  defiance  of 
international  honor  and  its  webs  of  conspiracy  are  woven 
in  Mexico,  in  the  Southern  nations  of  this  continent  itself, 
in  France,  in  Italy,  in  England  and  Ireland;  and  right 
within  our  own  doors. 

Belgium  resisted,  poor  Russia  yielded ;  but  each  receives 
absolutely  the  same  recompense  and  reward. 
5 


66  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Is  it  not  all  a  clear  revelation  of  those  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  German  thought  in  which  the  mind  of  the  German 
people  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  been  prepared  and 
disciplined?  Is  it  not  clear  evidence  that  the  solemn  treaty 
torn  to  fragments  at  Liege  was  but  a  type  and  symbol  of 
a  profound  and  a  far-reaching  policy? 

Review  the  history  of  this  Imperial  state — its  literature, 
its  philosophy,  yea,  even  at  least  in  some  measure,  the 
preaching  of  its  pulpits — and  we  find  in  it  a  nation  which 
believes  with  all  its  heart,  with  all  its  soul,  with  all  its  might, 
and  with  all  its  strength,  in  the  survival  of  the  mightiest,  in 
physical  warfare  as  the  very  sacrament  of  spiritual  reality ; 
that  the  people  exist  for  the  sake  of  the  state ;  that  the  sword 
is  the  scepter  of  the  highest  court  of  justice,  and  that  right 
is  only  measured  by  might;  that  the  state  is  beyond  good 
and  evil,  and  that  therefore  f rightfulness  itself  has  its 
divine  sanction;  that  humanity  and  mercy  are  foolishness; 
that  democracy  is  but  an  idle  dream.  Do  we  not  have  here 
a  nation,  and  is  it  not  as  clear  as  day,  which  believes  in  new 
Beatitudes ;  that  the  meek  shall  serve  the  mighty ;  that  the 
strong  shall  thrive  upon  the  weak;  that  the  only  duty  of 
the  feeble  is  to  perish  and  that  the  state  has  need  of  no  con- 
cern for  those  memorable  words  of  our  own  historic  Decla- 
ration about  a  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind? 

The  evidence  of  these  three  sad  years  throws  the  clearest 
light  on  all  those  meetings  at  the  Hague  where  treaties  and 
arbitrations  failed  because  they  were  foiled  by  the  consistent 
resistance  of  the  representatives  of  this  nation  and  explains 
why  the  name  of  Get'many  is  not  included  in  the  thirty 
nations  who  signed  the  far-reaching  treaties  of  Mr.  Bryan 
with  our  own  Government. 

Read,  if  you  will,  the  very  peace  message  of  this  nation 
a  few  short  weeks  before  our  own  participation  in  the  war, 
boasting  of  conquest  and  asking  for  peace  upon  the  basis 
of  its  own  haggard  philosophy  and  ruthless  deeds. 

But  perhaps  some  one  says,  "Have  not  the  other  nations 
done  v/rong  in  days  that  are  past?" 

If  it  will  please  you,  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  there 
have  been  weak  spots  in  our  own  policy.    God  forbid  that 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  67 

we  should  ever  play  the  role  of  Pharisee.  But  in  this  imper- 
fect world  we  must  estimate  by  the  general  spirit  and  trend 
of  nations  as  we  do  of  individuals. 

What  then  has  been  the  general  spirit,  we  will  say,  in 
the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  of  our  own  nation?  What  is 
our  record  as  a  whole?  It  is  symbolized  by  our  indemnity 
gratuitously  returned  to  Japan;  by  the  voluntary  gift  of 
indemnities  to  China,  which,  at  their  consummation,  will 
amount  to  $40,000,000 ;  of  the  island  of  Cuba  handed  over 
to  her  own  people;  of  the  West  Indies  purchased  by  a  fair 
and  honorable  trade.  And  what  would  be  the  attitude  of 
our  people  if  this  Government  should  even  think  of  pro- 
claiming the  permanent  possession  of  the  Philippines 
regardless  of  the  rights  and  development  of  its  people? 

I  hasten  to  admit  that  it  is  our  solemn  duty  to  clean 
our  own  democratic  household  while  we  preach  democracy 
to  the  world.  But  what  has  been  the  trend  of  our  interna- 
tional life?  First  of  all,  it  has  been  the  tendency  to  isola- 
tion, with  a  Monroe  Doctrine  intended  to  free,  not  only 
ourselves,  but  the  whole  American  continent  from  old  world 
diplomacy.  Look  at  the  list  of  thirty  nations  with  whom 
we  have  agreed  to  substitute  arbitration  for  war,  by  treaties 
which  initiated  with  ourselves.  What  did  our  long  and 
patient  neutrality  tend  to  signify?  With  the  exception  of  a 
few  reactionary  Congressmen,  we  have  given  our  instant 
assent  to  a  League  of  Nations. 

And  what  is  the  testimony  of  our  absolute  unprepared- 
ness?  Did  ever  a  President  or  a  Cabinet  or  a  people  go  to 
further  lengths  in  the  exercise  of  national  patience,  while 
a  nation  with  whom  we  were  not  at  war  filled  our  land  from 
one  end  to  the  other  with  intrigue  and  sent  its  agents  from 
its  own  embassies  to  dynamite  our  factories?  When  did  a 
nation's  ruler  ever  try  to  such  exhaustion  sane  counsels  and 
advice,  while  a  nation  with  whom  we  were  at  peace  spoke 
her  plausible  lies  to  us  to  quiet  our  fears  while  she  built 
her  engines  of  death  to  destroy  our  ships  and  our  people? 

And  then  finally,  when  every  recourse  had  been  tried, 
we  still  pleaded  for  a  peace  without  victory,  and  our  Presi- 
dent, by  his  request  for  the  war  aims  of  the  nations,  sought 


68  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

to  gain  peace  for  a  nation  in  whose  people  he  still  trusted, 
although  he  knew  that  its  lords  and  rulers  were  enemies 
of  all  mankind.  And  then  the  final  specious  word  came  from 
the  imperial  capital :  "We  are  the  victors ;  we  will  sit  in 
conference  now  with  those  whom  we  have  vanquished."  In 
Heaven's  name,  what  kind  of  a  conference  of  peace  would 
that  have  been? 

Never  before  in  all  history  has  a  nation  made  the  dis- 
tinction, in  entering:  a  conflict,  that  our  President  made 
between  the  German  people  and  their  rulers,  sending  to  the 
Ijeople  the  message  that  we  do  not  war  against  them  and 
even  the  trustful  word  that  we  believed  in  them. 

And  what  was  the  meaning  of  our  neutrality?  Was 
it  that  we  condoned  oppression  and  injustice?  No;  it  was 
the  long-deferred  hope  that  by  this  means  we  could  best 
serve  all  the  peoples  to  bind  up  the  wounds  of  the  conflict. 

And  finally,  when  the  end  came,  our  nation  withheld  its 
hand  until  the  German  Ambassador,  who  had  been  so  faith- 
less to  us,  had  reached  Berlin,  because  at  his  departure  he 
had  asked  that  this  be  done;  and  meanwhile  during  this 
delay  a  few  more  hundred  submarines  were  finished  off. 

And  so  we  hoped  and  prayed,  in  the  midst  of  the  official 
spies  among  us,  despite  the  plots  at  our  ovm.  doors,  the 
strife  that  was  being  fomented  among  us,  and  the  attempts 
to  embroil  us  with  nations  from  one  end  of  the  world  to 
the  other,  and  still  we  held  our  peace. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  a  wireless  message  from  the  German 
Chancellor  Von  Bethmann  -  Hollweg.  In  1916  I  was 
requested  by  Ex-President  Taft,  in  behalf  of  the  League  to 
Enforce  Peace,  to  take  up  correspondence  with  the  Chan- 
cellor relative  to  the  attitude  of  the  German  Government  and 
people  toward  a  League  of  Nations. 

This  message  expresses  approval  of  such  a  League,  but 
it  contains  also  two  significant  limitations  which  I  think  we 
can  now  understand  better  than  we  understood  them  then. 
Participation  in  such  a  League  is  put  over  until  after  the 
war.  It  states  that  then  Germany  will  be  disposed  to  take 
the  leadership  in  such  a  League  and  that  it  will  do  so  in 
order  to  restrain  disturbers  of  the  peace.    That  is  to  say :  It 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  69 

is  to  be  a  League  between  victor  and  vanquished,  something 
like  the  present  League  between  Germany  and  Russia. 

I  have  here  another  document.  It  was  conveyed  to  the 
Government  of  Germany  through  the  German  churches  h\te 
in  January,  1917.  It  is  signed  by  nearly  a  thousand  of  the 
most  representative  religious  leaders  of  America.  It  states 
three  proposals  which,  had  the  German  nation  been  ready 
to  accept,  even  at  that  late  moment  might  have  made  pos- 
sible a  cessation  of  conflict. 

I  have  still  a  third  document  of  which  you  probably 
never  heard.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  wireless  message  which,  in 
a  widely  representative  capacity,  I  sent  to  the  Chancellor 
and  to  Foreign  Secretary  Zimmermann  in  December,  1916. 
It  urges  that  Germany  reply  to  the  note  of  the  Allies  with- 
out reference  to  causes  and  responsibility  for  beginning 
the  war ;  to  omit  all  reference  to  victories ;  to  offer  to  leave 
territorial  adjustments  and  indemnities  to  be  decided  by 
conference,  but  to  express  the  purpose  of  Germany  to  enter 
such  a  conference  ready  to  provide  for  general  disarma- 
ment, a  League  of  Nations,  or  other  provisions  to  insure 
eternal  peace.  It  was  an  appeal  which,  if  heeded,  might 
again  have  saved  us  from  the  present  hour. 

I  mention  these  things  because  they  indicate  our  efforts 
up  to  the  last  moment,  and  indeed  beyond  the  last  moment, 
to  bring  peace  and  justice  together. 

These,  my  friends,  it  seems  to  me  adequately  answer  the 
Question:  Did  we  try  moral  suasion,  and  did  we  enter 
this  war  with  clean  hands,  with  a  pure  heart,  without  hav- 
ing lifted  up  our  souls  to  vanity,  nor  sworn  deceitfully?  And 
it  raises  the  question :  Had  we  turned  our  faces  away  from 
Jerusalem,  should  we  not  have  been  repudiated  by  a  uni- 
verse whose  integrity  and  pity  are  relentless? 

And  meanwhile,  instead  of  preparing  our  militaiy  meas- 
ures for  the  thing  that  might  come,  we  refrained;  and  I 
know  from  things  that  our  President  himself  has  said  in 
my  presence  that  the  reason  for  that  procedure  was  because 
he  felt  that  for  us  to  make  manifest  warlike  preparations 
would  tend  to  frustrate  all  our  efforts  to  bring  peace  by 
other  means. 


70  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

And  what  were  our  busy  activities?  What  were  our 
plans?  They  were  all  occupied  with  deeds  and  measures 
of  mercy  and  good  will,  of  rehabilitation  and  of  recon- 
struction. 

That  is  our  history  and  it  is  the  record  with  which  we 
stand  before  the  bar  of  the  judgment  of  Almighty  God. 
But  we  have  said  that  no  such  conflict  is  justifiable  unless 
it  be  a  war  of  defense.  Here  we  must  be  morally  adequate 
in  our  conceptions  of  defense.  Is  a  nation  bound  to  defend 
and  to  protect  other  weaker  nations  ? 

It  raises  a  still  more  significant  question :  Is  a  war  which 
is  in  defense  of  the  moral  and  the  spiritual  ideals  from 
which  the  whole  of  mankind  draws  its  life  and  being  to  be 
considered  as  a  war  of  defense? 

But  at  this  point  some  one  raises  the  question:  Must 
we  not  grant  that  the  blame  for  this  world  conflict  is  to  be 
distributed  among  the  nations?  Have  they  not  all  pursued 
wrong  and  foolish  diplomatic  ways? 

We  need  not  be  concerned  with  the  sins  of  Napoleon  or 
the  wrongdoings  of  our  British  brethren  a  hundred  years 
ago.  We  are  dealing  with  present  issues.  Two  years  ago 
when  I  visited  these  peoples  I  marked  their  contrasts.  I 
found  in  gi'eat  Britain  little  of  what  could  be  called  a  sense 
of  national  hatred;  I  found  in  France  everything  else 
obscured  by  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  to  great  ideals;  and 
while  in  Paris  they  showed  me  side  by  side,  first  the  letter 
representative  French  Protestant  pastors  sent  to  the  court 
preacher  at  Berlin  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  earnestly 
beseeching  that  Christian  institutions  exercise  their  influ- 
ence in  the  spirit  of  amelioration  and  restraint,  and  then  the 
letter  from  the  court  preacher  and  his  associates  in  Berlin 
ruthlessly  saying,  in  substance,  that  war  is  war  and  we 
must  let  it  take  its  ruthless  and  unrestrained  consequences. 

What  did  I  find  in  Germany?  Everything  else  seemed 
to  be  obscured  by  the  sense  of  national  self-consciousness 
and  with  the  clearly  apparent  faith  that,  v/ith  the  German 
state,  whatever  is,  is  right. 

I  am  willing  to  be  patient  with  our  patient  friends  to-day 
while  they  recount  to  me  the  sins  of  our  nation  and  its  allies ; 


THE  MORAL  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR  71 

but,  my  friends,  the  man  is  either  knave  or  fool  who  can- 
not see  the  ineffaceable  moral  distinction  in  this  hour 
between  Germany  and  Turkey  on  the  one  side,  and  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  the  United  States  on  the  other. 

I  have  here  still  another  message  which  probably  you 
never  saw.  It  was  sent  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
to  the  churches  of  the  world  from  representative  church 
leaders  in  Germany.  Its  spirit  may  be  indicated  by  such 
sentences  as  these:  "Our  sword  is  bright  and  keen."  The 
conflict  is  laid  at  the  doors  of  "those  who  have  long 
secretly  and  cunningly  been  spinning  a  web  of  conspiracy 
against  Germany,  which  now  they  have  flung  over  us  in 
order  to  strangle  us  therein." 

It  is  a  message  of  hate. 

And  then  our  churches  in  Federal  Council  assembled 
last  May,  representing  a  nation  which  had  endured  the 
things  which  I  have  set  before  you,  issued  a  message  and 
this  is  what  they  said : 

"To  vindicate  the  principles  of  righteousness  and  the 
inviolability  of  faith  as  between  nation  and  nation;  to 
safeguard  the  right  of  all  the  people,  great  and  small  alike, 
to  live  their  life  in  freedom  and  peace;  to  resist  and  over- 
come the  forces  that  would  prevent  the  union  of  the  nations 
in  a  commonwealth  of  free  people  conscious  of  unity  in 
the  pursuit  of  ideal  ends — these  are  aims  for  which  every 
one  of  us  may  lay  down  our  all,  even  life  itself.  We  enter 
the  war  with  no  hatred  nor  bitterness  against  those  with 
whom  we  contend.  As  members  of  the  church  of  Christ,  the 
hour  lays  upon  us  special  duties :  To  purge  our  own  hearts 
clean  of  arrogance  and  selfishness;  to  keep  ever  before  the 
eyes  of  ourselves  and  of  our  allies  the  ends  for  which  we 
fight ;  to  hold  our  own  nation  true  to  Its  professed  aims  of 
justice,  liberty,  and  brotherhood;  to  testify  to  our  fellow 
Christians  in  every  land,  most  of  all  to  those  from  whom 
for  the  time  we  are  estranged,  our  consciousness  of 
unbroken  unity  in  Christ;  to  unite  in  the  fellowship  of  serv- 
ice multitudes  who  love  their  enemies  and  are  ready  to  join 
with  them  in  rebuilding  the  waste  places  as  soon  as  peace 
shall  come;  to  be  vigilant  against  every  attempt  to  arouse 


72  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  spirit  of  vengeance  and  unjust  suspicion  toward  those 
of  foreign  birth  or  sympathies;  to  protect  the  rights  of 
conscience  against  every  attempt  to  invade  them ;  and  above 
all,  to  call  men  everywhere  to  share  with  him  his  ministry 
of  reconciliation.  With  this  hope  we  would  join  hands  with 
all  men  of  good  will  of  every  land  and  race,  to  rebuild  on 
this  v/ar-ridden  and  desolated  earth  the  commonwealth  of 
mankind." 

I  profoundly  believe  that  this  indicates  the  general  spirit 
of  our  nation.  As  I  go  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other,  I  hear  little  of  utterances  of  hate,  little  of  ultimate 
revenge,  and  on  every  hand,  I  think  I  may  say  it  with  truth- 
fulness, a  general  spirit  of  desire  to  return  good  for  evil. 

In  the  light  of  the  national  and  international  experience 
which  I  have  tried  to  suggest  to  you,  it  seems  to  me  then 
that  the  very  warfaring  man  can  discern  the  moral  aims  of 
the  war. 

It  is  to  deteiTnine  the  very  nature  of  the  State.  Is  "it 
above  moral  and  divine  law  or  is  it  subject  to  it? 

Must  a  State,  like  an  individual,  tell  the  truth,  treat  its 
neighbors  as  it  does  itself,  and  have  the  same  obligation  as 
the  individual  to  be  honorable  and  pitiful  and  human? 

As  our  President  set  it  forth  in  his  message,  "A  stead- 
fast concert  for  peace  can  never  be  maintained  except  by 
a  partnership  of  democratic  nations.  Only  free  people  can 
hold  their  purpose  and  their  honor  steady  to  a  common  end, 
and  prefer  the  interests  of  mankind  to  any  narrow  interest 
of  their  own." 

And  the  ends  for  which  we  are  in  conflict  are  precisely 
the  same  as  those  which  actuated  the  days  of  our  neutrality 
and  which  go  back  to  the  sentiments  of  international  good 
will  and  honor  expressed  by  our  representatives  in  the  very 
first  Conference  at  the  Hague,  the  reconstruction  of  interna- 
tional institutions  upon  the  basis  of  justice  through  peaceful 
arbitration  and  as  a  practical  measure  toward  the  accom- 
plishments of  these  ideals,  the  establishment  of  a  League  of 
Nations. 


THE  MORAL  AIMS  OF  THE  WAR  73 


THE  MORAL  AIMS  OF  THE  WAR 

REV.  FREDERICK  LYNCH,  D.D.,  SECRETARY  NATIONAL  COMMIT- 
TEE ON  THE  CHURCH  AND  MORAL  AIMS  OF  THE  WAR 

We  have  just  been  re-reading  the  various  addresses  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  delivered  to  Congress 
and  to  other  audiences  since  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war.  Again  we  have  been  impressed  with 
the  remarkable  fact  that  in  eveiy  utterance  the  moral  aims 
of  the  war  are  those  which  receive  chief  and  almost  only- 
emphasis.  It  is  a  new  thing  in  history,  with  one  exception, 
that  of  England's  declaration  of  war  to  uphold  the  rights 
of  Belgium.  There  have  been  innumerable  declarations  of 
war  and  statements  of  war  aims  by  rulers  which  dwell  upon 
the  vindication  of  national  honor,  the  preservation  of  the 
rights  of  the  nation  entering  upon  the  war,  the  protection 
of  property,  the  preservation  of  the  lives  of  citizens  and 
national  defense,  but  none  which  put  the  service  of  human- 
ity, regardless  of  the  gain  to  the  nation  itself.  To  quote 
from  President  Wilson's  address  of  November  5,  1916: 
"Why,  my  fellow  citizens,  it  is  an  unprecedented  thing  in 
the  world  that  any  nation  in  determining  its  foreign  rela- 
tions should  be  unselfish,  and  my  ambition  is  to  see  America 
set  the  great  example." 

The  United  States  lost  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty and  hundreds  of  lives  through  the  ruthless  acts  of 
submarines.  As  the  war  progressed  the  nation  itself  faced 
ultimate  invasion,  should  Gemiany  triumph.  Evil  machi- 
nations were  going  on  inside  our  nation  itself,  and  the 
nation  was  being  used  as  a  tool  against  the  Allies.  It  would 
have  been  perfectly  natural  for  the  United  States  to  have 
gone  to  war  for  all  these  attacks  and  for  the  innumerable 
violations  of  her  honor.  But  when  at  last  the  President 
declared  war  it  was  not  these  things  he  emphasized,  and 
he  was  meticulously  careful  to  say  it  was  not  for  gain  of 
territory  or  revenge.  In  every  utterance  it  was  moral,  eth- 
ical, religious  aims  that  were  emphasized.  It  marks  a  new 
era  in  history.    It  was  one  of  the  great  steps  forward  in 


74  DEMOCRACY    IN   EARNEST 

civilization,    when    civilization    seemed    tottering    to    the 
ground. 

Five  aims  are  mentioned  again  and  again  in  these 
addresses.  It  is  well  that  we  should  dwell  upon  these  five 
aims,  for  they  are  all  moral,  religious  aims. 

1.  In  almost  every  address  Mr.  Wilson  says  we  have 
entered  upon  this  war  to  secure  democracy  for  the  whole 
world.  "The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy." 
But  democracy  is  a  religious  thing.  It  came  straight  from 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  born  out  of  the  sense  of  the  ivorth  of 
every  human  soul  as  a  child  of  God.  It  is  a  corollary  of  that 
truth  forever  on  the  lips  of  Jesus,  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 
Christianity  began  as  a  democracy  of  equal  souls  in  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  and  in  democracy  lies  the  peace  of  the 
world.  It  is  not — it  never  has  been — democracies  that  orig- 
inate wars  of  aggrandizement  or  of  dominion.  Mr.  Wilson 
has  seen  this :  "Great  democracies  are  not  belligerent.  They 
do  not  seek  or  desire  war.  Their  thought  is  of  individual 
liberty  and  of  the  free  labor  that  supports  life  and  the 
uncensored  thought  that  quickens  it."  World  democracy 
means  world  peace,  thinks  the  President,  and  therefore  he 
puts  it  as  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  the  war.  But  again, 
democracy  is  a  moral  aim ;  and  the  desire  to  win  it  for  the 
whole  world  is  an  act  of  service,  which  is  a  Christian  act. 

2.  We  have  entered  upon  this  war,  says  the  President, 
to  secure  "the  right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to 
have  a  voice  in  their  own  government."  Here  again  we 
have  a  moral  aim.  We  are  fighting  not  for  territory,  not 
for  revenge,  but  to  insure  for  other  peoples  than  ourselves 
the  right  to  say  what  course  their  nation  shall  pursue  in 
the  common  life  of  the  world.  The  President  assumes,  and 
we  believe  rightly,  that  were  it  left  to  the  people  of  any 
nation  to  determme  the  nation's  policy,  they  would  not  vote 
for  aggrandizement,  for  expansion  at  the  cost  of  war,  nor 
for  the  despoliation  of  other  peoples. 

3.  "We  shall  fight  .  .  .  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
small  nations,"  says  Mr.  Wilson  in  his  address  of  April  2, 
1917.  And  he  has  said  it  many  times.  Here  again  the 
United  States  has  set  before  it  a  moral  aim.     We  are  to 


THE  MORAL  AIMS  OF  THE  WAR  75 

make  untold  sacrifices,  not  for  ourselves,  but  for  the  right 
of  the  small  and  weak  nations  of  the  earth  to  live  their 
own  lives  without  fear  of  dictation,  domination,  or  invasion. 
They  must  no  longer  be  mere  pawns  to  be  moved  about  the 
map  as  suits  the  purposes  of  great  and  ambitious  powers. 
Belgium,  Holland,  Switzerland,  they  are  peace-loving 
nations,  and  they  have  the  right  to  pursue  their  own  happy 
lives  without  fear  or  interference.  "America  seeks  no  mate- 
rial profit  or  aggrandizement  of  any  kind.  She  is  fighting 
for  no  advantage  or  selfish  objects  of  her  own,  but  for  the 
liberation  of  peoples  everywhere  from  the  aggressions  of 
autocratic  force." 

4.  In  almost  every  address  which  Mr.  Wilson  has  made 
during  the  last  year  he  has  put  as  the  great  objective  of  the 
war  a  league  of  nations  pledged  to  settle  its  own  disputes 
by  peaceful  methods  and  committed,  through  its  united 
power,  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  world.    "We  shall  fight 

.  .  .  for  a  universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert 
of  free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations 
and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free."  This  is  simply 
brotherhood,  cooperation,  good  will,  mutual  service,  the 
common  life,  applied  to  nations  as  Christianity  has  applied 
them  to  individuals  from  the  beginning.  It  is  putting  the 
kingdom  of  righteousness  above  the  selfishness  of  national- 
ism. It  is  the  realizing  of  "each  for  all,  and  all  for  each" 
in  the  realm  of  nations  as  we  have  long  since  realized  it 
am.ong  men  within  the  nation.  It  is  establishing  a  democ- 
racy of  nations  similar  to  the  democracy  of  men.  It  is  a 
great,  sublime,  moral  aim. 

5.  Finally  the  President  has  declared  that  we  have 
entered  upon  this  war  to  secure  a  Christian  standard  of  con- 
duct between  nations  similar  to  that  which  obtains  among 
good  men.  It  has  not  been  so  in  the  past.  We  have  had  a 
double  standard  of  ethics,  Christian  for  individuals,  pagan 
for  nations.  We  have  said  it  was  wrong  for  men  to  steal 
from  each  other,  but  permissible  to  nations ;  wrong  for  men 
to  kill  each  other,  but  permissible  for  the  mighty  nation  to 
destroy  the  weaker  nation ;  wrong  for  men  to  settle  their 
disputes  by  guns  and  swords,  right  for  nations ;  wrong  for 


76  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

men  to  seek  reveng-e,  the  natural  thing-  for  nations.  We 
have  condemned  the  man  who  lives  for  self  alone,  for  his 
rights  alone,  and  we  have  called  that  man  a  knave  who 
would  seek  his  rights  at  the  cost  of  the  community's  suf- 
fering; but  we  have  expected  nations  to  live  for  self  and  to 
plunge  the  whole  world  into  misery  to  vindicate  their  own 
rights  or  honor.  We  have  called  the  man  who  served  most 
the  great  man;  we  have  called  the  nation  which  could  get 
the  most,  by  any  means,  the  great  nation.  All  this  must  be 
changed,  says  the  President.  The  nation  must  observe  the 
same  Christian  rule  of  conduct  that  men  observe  in  their 
relations  with  each  other.  In  other  words,  we  find  the  Pres- 
ident applying  the  gospel  to  nations.  When  was  there  ever 
a  ruler  who  used  such  words  as  these :  "We  are  at  the  begin- 
ning of  an  age  in  which  it  v/ill  be  insisted  that  the  same 
standards  of  conduct  and  of  responsibility  for  w^rong  done 
shall  be  observed  among  nations  and  their  governments  that 
are  observed  among  the  individual  citizens  of  civilized 
states."  "It  is  clear  that  nations  must  in  the  future  be  gov- 
erned by  the  same  high  code  of  honor  that  we  demand  of 
individuals." 


AMERICA— PEACEMAKER  OR  PACEMAKER? 

CHARLES    ZUEBLIN,    PH.D.,    AUTHOR    OF    "AMERICAN    MUNICI- 
PAL PROGRESS,"  "THE  RELIGION  OF  A  DEMOCRAT,"  ETC., 
FOUNDER  UNIVERSITY  SETTLEMENT  WORK 

Permanent  peace  can  come  within  the  range  of  possi- 
bility only  by  clearing  the  ground  of  Utopian  proposals.  To 
brand  a  peace  measure  as  Utopian  is  not  to  call  it  absurd, 
only  impracticable.  No  such  impracticable  Utopists  have 
appeared  in  our  time  as  the  men  who  expect  to  settle  any- 
thing by  war.  This  Utopian  device  prevails  momentarily 
over  the  others  merely  by  the  use  of  force.  It  disposes  of 
treaties  as  paper,  dismisses  The  Hague  as  tissue,  and  treats 
the  organizations  of  Christianity  as  confetti.  Such  results 
ought  to  discourage  a  proposal  of  further  Utopian  sugges- 
tions. 


AMERICA — PEACEMAKER  OR  PACEMAKER?  77 

If  disarmament  is  recommended,  what  can  we  offer  the 
nations  of  Europe?  Continental  countries  think  they  must 
maintain  armies,  maritime  countries  navies.  We  have  made 
no  such  preparation  as  they  have,  and  cannot.  We  have 
over  20,000  miles  of  coast  line  to  protect — eight  times  that 
of  England,  twenty-five  times  that  of  France. 

Our  transportation  facilities  are  purely  accidental.  The 
methods  of  communication  of  the  future,  as  revealed  by  the 
use  of  flying  machines  in  the  present  war,  may  menace  even 
the  interior.  The  body  politic  is  suffering  from  inability 
to  digest  the  sons  of  Mars,  but  it  is  not  to  be  cured  by 
sweets. 

Scientific  proposals  are  needed  to  induce  permanent  peace. 
When  war  is  upon  us,  we  spend  iijcredible  millions  and  en- 
dure unheard-of  suffering.  The  chief  torture  demanded  of 
us  to  forestall  these  calamities  is  fearless  thought. 

We  must  move  toward  free  trade.  While  protectionist 
sentiment  has  been  steadily  growing  in  Great  Britain,  the 
Southern  States,  and  other  free  trade  territory,  war  makes 
free  trade  imperative.  Protective  and  revenue  tariffs  are 
the  proposals  of  children  playing  with  bombs.  We  must 
meet  each  nation  cordially  and  generously,  with  reciprocal 
tariffs  and  reciprocal  patents.  We  must  substitute  a  mer- 
chant marine  for  a  navy.  We  shall  go  neither  unarmed  nor 
carrying  concealed  deadly  weapons.  We  shall  not  talk  about 
peace  and  prepare  for  war.  We  shall  make  peace  profitable. 
We  shall  have  an  army — yes,  as  big  as  the  nation;  but  an 
army  with  some  sane  use.  We  shall  dedicate  no  man  to  the 
business  of  killing.  If  that  is  to  be  done,  all  of  us  will  take 
a  hand. 

America  must  revise  its  attitude  toward  immigration. 
We  can  only  admit  people  as  fast  as  we  can  assimilate  them, 
but  there  must  be  no  discrimination  between  European  and 
Asiatic  immigrants.  We  can  admit  freely  Asiatics  as  well 
as  Europeans  up  to  the  numbers  we  can  assimilate  in  any 
year,  if  our  native  labor  is  protected  by  law  and  organiza- 
tion, so  that  no  aliens  are  employed  while  natives  are  unem- 
ployed and  immigrants  are  compelled  to  accept  the  Ameri- 
can standard  of  living. 


78  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

We  must  face  frankly  the  question  of  the  density  of  popu- 
lation. China,  Japan,  and  other  nations  are  overcrowded. 
The  United  States  can  hold  hundreds  of  millions  more  with 
comfort  and  profit.  It  is  chimerical  to  try  to  monopolize 
this  land  for  the  handful  of  people  in  it,  while  other  nations 
are  overcrowded.  The  only  correctives  for  density  of  popu- 
lation are  emigration  and  a  rising  standard  of  living.  The 
congested  nations  must  have  an  outlet.  The  standard  of 
all  nations  will  rise  as  the  working  people  get  their  share  of 
production. 

The  United  States  must  develop  a  solidarity  now  lacking. 
No  matter  how  insuperable  the  obstacles  seem,  economic 
justice  must  be  done  to  the  negro ;  unions  must  be  recognized 
and  encouraged;  home  rule  for  each  community  must  pre- 
vent a  conflict  of  local,  state,  and  national  legislation,  and 
all  transportation  and  communication  must  be  socialized.  A 
unified  nation  is  impossible  with  railways,  express,  tele- 
phone, and  telegraph  in  private  hands. 

America  must  recognize  that  militarism  cannot  be  abol- 
ished by  prayer  or  fasting  alone,  but  only  by  a  reasonable 
counter-proposal  also.  America  must  have  a  working  army. 
Every  girl,  as  well  as  every  boy,  should  be  a  conscript  to 
public  service.  A  year  of  each  young  life  should  be  given 
to  public  works.  This  will  incidentally  inculcate  a  sound 
patriotism  harmonious  with  universal,  as  well  as  national, 
well-being.  It  will  take  care  of  the  surplus  labor  that  makes 
a  fringe  of  poverty,  degrading  the  life  of  each  community. 
It  will  furnish  an  opportunity  for  vocational  training  in 
which  young  people  can  experiment  in  life  and  the  nation 
may  select  its  soldiers,  engineers,  nurses,  and  social  work- 
ers. No  man  shall  be  set  aside  primarily  for  murder.  The 
army  shall  be  a  working  army,  not  a  standing  army. 

The  United  States  can  carry  the  olive  branch  to  other 
countries  only  as  it  proves  its  sincerity.  It  already  enjoys 
a  great  prestige  because  of  its  relations  to  Canada,  South 
America,  and  Cuba.  It  can  come  into  similar  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  world  by  proving  that  conquest  is  futile, 
solidarity  feasible,  and  permeation  scientific. 


PROBLEM   OF  WAR — LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE  79 


THE   PROBLEM   OF  WAR   AND  THE   PROGRAM   OF 
THE  LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE 

PROFESSOR  FRANK   J.    KLINGBERG,   PH.D.,   REPRESENTING  THE 
LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE 

The  League  to  Enforce  Peace  was  inaugurated  at  a 
meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  in  June,  1915.  President 
Wilson  indorsed  it  in  May,  1916.  It  was  later  indorsed  by 
the  British  government,  the  French  government,  and  even 
by  the  German  Chancellor,  who  went  so  far  as  to  offer  him- 
self as  the  head  of  the  League!  President  Wilson  accepted 
the  program  again  very  definitely  in  his  speech  to  the  Senate 
in  January,  1917,  and  again  in  his  second  inaugural  address. 
The  Russian  revolutionary  movement,  together  with 
our  entrance  into  the  war,  made  the  program  of  the  League 
even  more  feasible  than  it  had  been  under  the  old  condi- 
tions, and  the  President  in  his  war  message  insists  that  we 
are  fighting  in  behalf  of  a  League  to  Enforce  Peace,  and  in 
support  of  democracy.  In  other  words,  our  foreign  policy 
has  become  the  encouragement  of  world  democracy  and 
the  organization  of  international  peace  along  the  lines  of 
justice  and  right. 

As  Americans  we  are  not  planning  to  give  up  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  but,  as  has  been  so  well  said  by  our  President,  we 
are  planning  to  extend  its  benefits  to  the  whole  world.  This 
doctrine  has  kept  our  hemisphere  from  becoming  a  stake  of 
diplomacy  and  has  permitted  the  Latin  American  states  to 
work  out  their  own  salvation.  Europe  has  been  saved  from 
the  friction  and  possible  wars  which  would  have  resulted 
from  the  partition  and  consequent  quarrels  over  territory. 
The  Latin  American  states  have  been  enabled  to  develop 
with  the  minimum  of  outside  interference.  Mexico  is  an 
almost  notorious  example  of  this  generous  policy  of  the 
United  States.  A  world-wide  application  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  would  mean  removing  relatively  backward  coun- 
tries as  a  source  of  friction  among  the  great  powers  while 
at  the  same  time  permitting  these  backward  regions  an 
opportunity  to  develop  under  tha  most  favorable  conditions- 


80  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

After  every  war  international  cooperation  takes  place. 
This  is  to  be  seen  in  the  great  congresses  of  the  last  hun- 
dred years.  At  the  end  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  came  the 
Congress  of  Vienna;  after  the  Crimean  War,  the  Congress 
of  Paris,  where  many  questions  of  world  importance  were 
discussed,  such  as  a  better  code  of  maritime  laws. 

After  the  Russo-Turkish  war  an  attempt  was  made  to 
settle  the  problems  of  the  Near  East  at  the  Congress  of 
Berlin.  When  the  active  partition  of  Africa  began  in  the 
eighties,  a  Congress  met  and  formed  rules  for  the  division 
and  government  of  the  continent,  especially  in  the  Congo 
region.  Indeed,  there  is  no  more  wonderful  illustration  of 
cooperation  between  nations  than  the  peaceful  partition  of 
this  vast  continent.  These  are  examples  of  special  coopera- 
tion; in  times  of  peace  there  is  constant  cooperation. 

The  problem  of  war  with  a  view  to  its  prevention  has 
never  been  m^ore  penetratingly  studied ;  the  pages  of  history 
are  eagerly  scanned  for  light  on  the  subject.  The  question 
is  an  old  one  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  answer 
it.  The  modern  vievv^  is  that  the  problem  of  war  is  essen- 
tially that  of  the  problem  of  growth  and  decay.  One  group 
of  people  for  some  reason  becomes  static  or  decays.  An- 
other nation  develops  rapidly.  In  that  way  the  balance  is 
constantly  upset.  The  one  group  is  in  possession  of  a  rich 
inheritance.  Its  claim  is  a  legal  one.  Its  title  has  been  won 
through  centuries  of  effort  in  w^ar  and  in  peace.  It  wants 
to  have  the  world  maintained  as  it  is. 

Another  nation,  hungry  for  expansion  in  land  or  com- 
merce, insists  that  it  does  not  have  its  share  of  the  world's 
goods,  that  in  proportion  to  its  rapidily  growing  population 
and  general  vitality  there  ought  to  be  a  new  division  of 
wealth,  and  finally  that  its  need,  whether  real  or  imaginary, 
makes  it  right  to  despoil  its  neighbors  by  force  or  to  occupy 
the  lands  of  backward  races. 

Many  illuminating  historical  illustrations  can  be  taken 
from  the  past.  The  Roman  Empire  gave  its  inhabitants  a 
marvelous  period  of  peace,  lasting  several  centuries.  No 
invader  could  break  through  the  walls  of  the  Empire,  no 
outside  power  or  people  were  feared.    This  was  a  peace  of 


PROBLEM  OF  WAR— LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE     81 

conquest,  and  yet  the  longest  era  of  cessation  from  strife 
that  the  world  has  ever  known.  Gibbon,  the  great  historian, 
calls  the  second  century  A.D.  the  happiest  century  man  has 
ever  known.    The  peace  of  Rome  was  spread  over  the  world. 

Finally  the  Empire  weakened;  Germans  and  other  bar- 
barians came  pouring  over  the  walls  to  capture  and  sack 
the  imperial  city.  Perpetual  war  occurred  after  the  break- 
ing down  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
which  took  its  place,  and  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  two 
forces  of  internationalism  of  that  period,  could  maintain 
neither  national  nor  international  peace.  With  the  Reforma- 
tion the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  split,  and  the  chances 
of  its  playing  a  harmonizing  role,  which  it  often  did  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  were  greatly  diminished. 

Many  contending  states  now  developed  in  Europe  as  the 
forces  of  nationalism  or  particularism  grew  stronger  among 
the  young  and  rival  nations  succeeding  the  Roman  Empire. 
In  time  what  we  know  as  the  National  State  appeared,  the 
scale  of  war  spreading  with  the  expansion  of  the  countries. 
The  map  of  Europe  was  constantly  changing,  and  combina- 
tions were  made  against  the  particular  country  in  the 
ascendancy. 

What  we  know  of  the  French  Revolution  interprets  for 
us  many  phases  of  the  problem  of  war.  France  had  become 
the  most  powerful  state  in  Europe,  but  the  upper  crust  of 
its  brilliant  society  and  court  rested  on  boiling  ingredients 
below,  the  intelligence  and  ability  of  the  lower  classes  hav- 
ing reached  a  pitch  which  urgently  demanded  far-reaching 
change  and  adjustment.  The  regime  of  disharmony  in 
taxation,  privileges  of  all  kinds,  had  legal  recognition,  and 
rivers  of  blood  might  have  been  saved  if  the  necessary 
changes  to  new  conditions  could  have  been  made  peacefully, 
as  in  the  present  remarkable  Russian  Revolution,  struggling 
to  adjust  internal  disharmony  despite  all  the  confusion  of 
disorganization. 

Mirabeau  could  control  neither  the  King  nor  the  Assem- 
bly, and  the  Revolution  swept  on  until,  as  Carlyle  has 
described  it,  the  great  fire  licked  the  stars,  burning  kings, 
queens,  thrones,  chariots,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  roy- 
6 


82  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

alty  and  misrule,  and  purifying  the  earth  and  air  of  all  that 
was  offensive  in  government.  The  privileged  classes  in 
France  and  in  the  surrounding  countries  had  united  to  check 
the  Revolution  by  a  counter  revolution,  and  this  movement 
at  once  determined  the  revolutionaiy  leaders  to  cany  their 
banners  of  liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity  to  other  parts 
of  Europe. 

The  Revolution  now  had  to  fight  for  its  existence 
through  a  long,  bitter  struggle,  resulting  in  the  rise  of  a 
certain  adventurer,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  declared  him- 
self the  child  and  heir  of  the  Revolution,  and  promised  the 
people  to  preserve  for  them  all  that  they  had  won.  Quite 
aware  of  the  new  hour  that  had  struck,  he  maintained  for 
the  people  the  social  structure  which  had  been  built  up  dur- 
ing the  revolutionary  period,  but  alarmed  the  world  by 
transforming  France  into  a  great  military  empire,  threat- 
ening the  independence  of  all  Europe.  The  result  was  a 
great  development  in  nationalism,  and  by  the  determination 
of  the  different  peoples  to  free  themselves  from  the  Napo- 
leonic empire,  the  Corsican  was  driven  out  of  Europe. 

With  the  Kaiser  of  that  day  dispatched,  the  problem  of 
reconstruction,  on  almost  as  large  a  scale  as  that  which  the 
world  new  looks  forward  to,  confronted  the  powers.  The 
decisions  were  very  momentous.  The  social  structure,  the 
immediate  result  of  the  French  Revolution,  was  left  intact; 
the  old  regime  was  not  restored.  The  chief  problem  was 
largely  one  of  territorial  readjustment.  To  complete  this 
territorial  adjustment,  the  Congress  of  Vienna  was  called 
together  and  the  territory  of  Europe  was  apportioned  among 
the  different  powers.  France  received  her  old  boundary 
lines,  Germany  was  tied  into  a  loose  confederation,  many  of 
the  smaller  states  were  not  restored,  Holland  and  Belgium 
were  joined  togther,  Russia  gained  territory,  and  many 
changes  were  made. 

A  complete  victory  in  crushing  Napoleon,  the  military 
dictator  of  the  day,  had  been  won,  and  the  important* 
observation  of  to-day  is  that  the  fruits  of  this  victory  were 
not  secured.  The  coming  Congress  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tum will  strive  to  avoid  this  great  waste  of  effort.    How- 


PROBLEM  OF  WAR— LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE     83 

ever,  an  article  introduced  in  the  final  act  of  the  Congi*ess 
of  Vienna  by  Alexander  I.  of  Russia  led  to  some  very  inter- 
esting developments,  helpful  to  the  democratic  powers  of 
to-day  in  their  search  for  the  experience  of  the  past.  This 
clause  of  the  treaty  provided  that  four  great  powers  were 
to  review  at  fixed  intervals  the  conditions  of  the  nations  of 
Europe,  evidently  with  the  idea  of  catching  future  Napo- 
leons and  revolutions  in  their  infancy.  The  four  nations, 
known  as  the  Quadruple  Alliance,  were  Prussia,  Austria, 
Russia,  and  Great  Britain.  Later,  the  organization  was 
developed  as  the  Holy  Alliance,  embodying  the  view  that 
the  princes  were  to  regard  each  other  as  brothers  and  their 
acts  were  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
This  schem.e  led  strangely  to  the  formation  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  in  this  country  and  to  the  beginning  of  what  may 
be  called  one  of  the  cardinal  points  of  our  foreign  policy. 
According  to  the  agreement,  a  number  of  congresses 
met  between  the  years  1815  and  1823 ;  their  work  forms  the 
most  serious  attempt  that  has  ever  been  made  to  give  the 
world  international  government.  At  these  different  con- 
gresses serious  questions  were  taken  up  and  settled.  France 
was  admitted  as  a  fifth  power.  Alexander  advocated  in 
1818  a  general  alliance  for  a  status  quo  and  legitimate  sov- 
ereignty. He  argued  that  governments  would  then  be 
relieved  from  the  fear  of  revolutions  and  could  give  greater 
liberties.  The  British  objected  that  treaties  between  the 
nations  already  existing  were  sufficient. 

Such  questions  as  the  slave  trade,  piracy,  and  revolu- 
tions were  considered.  The  last  congress,  which  met  at 
Verona  in  1822,  discussed  the  Greek  question,  the  revolution 
in  the  Spanish  colonies  and  in  Spain,  the  revolution  in  Italy, 
etc.  The  Spanish  colonies  in  South  America  were  strug- 
gling for  independence,  and  to  oppose  the  work  accom- 
plished by  the  congresses  President  Monroe  issued  his 
famous  doctrine,  successfully  preventing  an  attack  on  Latin 
America  by  the  Holy  Alliance,  and  also  preventing  the 
Russian  bear  from  marching  too  far  south  from  his  Alas- 
kan territory.  It  was  at  this  last  congress  that  Great 
Britain  broke  away  from  the  other  reactionary  powers,  and 


84  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

with  the  secession  of  England  the  attempt  at  international 
congresses  came  to  an  end.  George  Canning,  the  British 
Foreign  Minister,  said  wittily:  "So  things  have  come  to  a 
wholesome  state  again ;  every  nation  for  itself  and  God  for 
us  all." 

The  chief  defect  of  this  attempt  was  that  the  powers 
tried  to  maintain  peace  without  justice,  to  maintain  the 
status  quo,  both  internal  and  international,  and  that  at  a 
time  when  the  world  was  changing  rapidly.  New  classes  of 
wealthy  and  powerful  manufacturers,  sturdy  working 
classes,  were  developing  in  the  different  countries  as  a 
result  of  the  industrial  revolution  and  its  marvelous  inven- 
tions. The  whole  modern  age  of  science  and  its  application 
to  the  problems  of  man  was  well  under  way.  This  policy 
of  trying  to  prevent  changes  by  maintaining  the  old  system 
was  doomed,  and  just  as  it  had  brought  on  the  French  Revo- 
lution it  now  brought  on  revolutions  in  1820,  1830,  and  1848. 
Another  difficulty  was  the  choice  of  only  five  powers  to  gov- 
ern the  world  instead  of  a  large  group  of  powers,  as  the 
present  plan  of  the  Allies  provides  for  the  future. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  projects  to  render 
peace  perpetual  were  fathered  by  distinguished  men  in 
widely  different  positions  and  countries.  Over  two  hundred 
years  ago,  in  1713,  the  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre  used  modern 
phrases,  very  similar  to  President  Wilson's,  expressing  his 
hopes  for  a  European  League;  a  quaint  dream  of  the  clois- 
ter, as  it  was  then,  it  may  now  become  a  practical  reality. 
A  similar  scheme  was  worked  out  in  1791  by  the  Austrian 
Chancellor  Kaunitz  for  preserving  the  inviolability  of  pos- 
sessions as  well  as  the  faith  of  treaties.  This  idea  of  a 
central  constitution  for  Europe  did  not  become  of  serious 
importance  until  the  Czar  of  Russia  began  writing  to  Pitt 
with  the  results  described  above  in  the  work  of  the  remark- 
able congresses. 

Even  Napoleon  had  dreams  of  peace,  just  as  the  Kaiser 
had.  These  dreams  were  to  be  attained  by  the  same  means, 
Napoleon  saying  that  his  plan  after  conquering  the  world 
was  to  unite  all  nations  in  one  Empire  and  give  them  peace. 
His  dream  of  government,  as  he  pondered  on  his  career  at 


PROBLEM   OF  WAR—LEAGUE  TO  ENFORCE  PEACE  85 

St.  Helena,  was  to  unite  Europe  by  a  uniform  code  of  laws, 
a  common  religion,  and  other  ties  which  would  outweigh 
the  forces  of  disruption.  His  remarkable  prophecy  that  in 
a  hundred  years  Europe  would  be  either  Cossack  or 
republican  we  believe  to  be  coming  to  pass  almost  to  the 
minute,  and  republican  government  is  the  decision.  Napo- 
leon's other  vision  of  international  organization  is  in  sight 
and  will  emphasize  his  idea  that  the  ideas  common  to  all 
men  overbalance  their  antagonisms. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that,  shortly  before  the  assassi- 
nation of  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  which  was  the  imme- 
diate occasion  of  the  outbreak  of  war,  an  agreement  had 
been  reached  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany  by  which 
the  latter  was  very  generously  treated  in  the  Near  East. 
The  Germans  received  nearly  everything  they  wanted  in 
Turkey,  a  chance  to  build  the  Bagdad  Railway  with  a  port 
on  the  Persian  Gulf,  a  promise  of  British  cooperation  or 
good  will  in  the  colonial  field,  suggestive  of  a  prospect  that 
the  Germans  might  in  time  and  by  peaceful  means  inherit 
a  large  part  of  the  decaying  Portuguese  colonial  empire. 
British  interests  on  the  Persian  Gulf  were  adequately  pro- 
tected and  Egypt  was  to  be  protected  by  a  French  sphere 
of  influence  in  Syria.  There  seems  good  reason  to  believe 
that  had  the  assasination  not  taken  place  before  the  publica- 
tion of  the  agreement,  so  fully  recognizing  Germany's  inter- 
ests, the  European  tension  would  have  been  relieved  and 
the  Germans  would  have  felt  their  period  of  isolation  was  at 
an  end.  When  Germany  finds  that  her  choice  of  war  has 
spelled  complete  ruin,  her  bitterest  realization  will  be  that 
her  chief  objects  were  within  her  honorable  grasp. 

Such  an  agreement,  actually  providing  peacefully  for  a 
great  change  from  the  status  quo,  would  have  been  an 
inspiring  victory  for  the  forces  of  reason ;  but  it  may  be  true 
that  the  minds  of  the  ruling  caste  in  Germany  were  too 
thoroughly  poisoned  with  the  false  doctrines  exalting  force 
above  all  morality,  honor,  and  decency,  and  the  people  too 
completely  prepared  for  this  war  to  have  been  permanently 
satisfied.  As  Ex-President  Taft  has  so  well  said,  a  provi- 
dential punishment  has  followed  their  violation  of  the  moral 


86  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

law,  the  supermen  of  the  autocracy  having  become  totally 
blind  to  the  strength  of  the  moral  motives  that  control  other 
peoples,  and  believing  that  England,  burdened  with  Ireland, 
would  leave  Belgium  to  her  fate,  that  France  was  decadent 
and  unable  to  resist.  "Contemptuous  of  a  peace-loving  peo- 
ple, the  German  military  dynasty  brought  into  the  contest 
a  nation  fresh  in  its  strength,  which  can  furnish  more 
money,  more  food,  and  more  fighting  men,  if  necessary,  than 
any  other  nation  in  the  world" — this  at  the  crisis  of  the  v/ar 
when  the  victory  must  abide  by  the  weight  of  wealth, 
resources,  food,  equipment,  and  fighting  men. 

One  great  object  of  the  League  is  the  preparation  of  the 
basis  of  a  permanent  peace.  The  democratic  nations  must 
come  to  the  council  table  prepared  to  secure  a  just  peace. 
The  basis  for  future  good  relations  is  not  established  by 
victon'-  alone,  but  by  the  terms  and  temper  of  the  settlement 
is  the  future  made  safe  and  certain,  as  Mr.  Taft  has  so  well 
expressed  it,  in  speaking  of  the  bad  judgment  of  the  North- 
ern politicians  as  an  obstacle  to  the  successful  results  which 
would  have  followed  the  work  of  Lincoln  and  Grant  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  South  after  the  Civil  War. 

The  plan  of  the  League  is  so  simple  that  it  may  briefly 
be  stated  as  a  League  of  Nations  in  which  all  agree  that 
legal  international  controversies  shall  be  heard  and  decided 
by  a  court ;  that  controversies  not  to  be  settled  by  principles 
of  law  (such  as  territorial  boundaiy  disputes,  or  economic 
and  commercial  privileges)  shall  be  submitted  to  a  Com- 
mission of  Conciliation  for  recommendation  of  a  settlement; 
that  the  united  forces  of  the  League  shall  resist  any  nation 
beginning  war  before  the  quarrel  has  been  submitted  to  one 
tribunal  or  the  other  and  decided.  The  English  plan  pro- 
vides that  if  the  council  of  nations  so  decides  they  must 
enforce  the  judgment  or  settlement,  using  all  their  joint 
economic  and  military  powers  to  that  end.  The  American 
League  believes  it  unwise  to  attempt  the  enforcement  of 
judgment,  and  that  by  restraining  the  contending  parties 
from  resorting  to  war  until  the  peaceable  procedure  and 
decision  have  been  attained  most  wars  will  be  prevented. 


III.    HEALTH  FOR  ALL 


Healthgrams 

The  State  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health 

Some  Objections  to  the  Fee  System  in  the  Practice 

of  Medicine 
Some  Evils  of  Self-Medication 
The  Marriage  Health  Certificate 
Maintaining  a  Proper  Bacteriological  and  Chemical 

Standard  for  Drinl^ing  Water 
The  Evolution  of  the  Trained  Nurse 
Housing  in  Preventing  Disease 
Protection  Against  Bad  Air 
The  Prevention  of  Blindness 
Treatment  of  the  Insane  Outside  of  Hospitals 
Prevalence  and  Prevention  of  Malaria 
The  Fight  Against  Tuberculosis 
The  Mortality  from  Cancer  in  the  Southern  States 
The  Peril  of  Venereal  Diseases 
Keeping  the  Soldier  Fit  to  Fight 


HEALTHGRAMS 

1.  In  the  United  States  an  average  of  685  babies 
die  every  day,  or  250,000  a  year.  The  coffins  for 
babies  who  die  annually  in  this  country,  if  placed 
side  by  side,  would  make  a  solid  row  ninety-five 
miles  long.  One  out  of  every  four  babies  born  in  the 
South  dies  under  one  year  of  age. 

2.  In  the  United  States  there  are  630,000  pre- 
ventable deaths  a  year,  or  1,726  every  twenty-four 
hours — twelve  Lusitanias  a  week! 

3.  There  are  2,900,000  persons  constantly  sick  in 
this  country.  This  is  a  loss  annually  to  the  nation 
of  over  $3,000,000,000— enough  to  build  seven 
Panama  Canals  a  year. 

4.  Tuberculosis  alone  costs  more  than  the  ex- 
pense of  the  entire  Federal  Government.  At  the 
present  rate  at  least  5,000,000  of  the  people  now 
living  in  the  United  States  will  die  of  tuberculosis. 

5.  Typhoid  fever  costs  the  nation  $350,000,000 
annually. 

6.  There  are  3,000,000  cases  of  sickness  from 
malaria  every  year  in  the  United  States,  causing  a 
loss  of  $100,000,000. 

7.  Of  the  892,000  persons  of  all  ages  taken  at 
random  in  the  United  States  and  examined  for  hook- 
worm, thirty-four  per  cent  were  suffering  from  this 
disease.  It  is  estimated  that  South  Carolina  alone 
suffers  a  loss  annually  of  $35,000,000  from  the 
lowered  vitality  of  her  workers  caused  by  hook- 
worm. 

8.  At  least  190,000  persons  in  the  United  States 
are  constantly  ill  from  syphilis,  while  thirty  per 
cent  of  the  insanity  of  this  country  is  due  to  this 
disease. 


THE  STATE  AS  THE  GUARDIAN  OF  PUBLIC 
HEALTH 

SEALE  HARRIS,  M.D.,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  MEDICAL 
ASSOCIATION,  BIRMINGHAM,  ALA. 

Disraeli,  in  one  of  his  most  important  messages  to  his 
countrymen,  said:  "Public  health  is  the  foundation  upon 
which  rest  the  happiness  of  the  people  and  the  welfare  of 
the  State.  Reform  directed  toward  the  advancement  of 
public  health  must  ever  take  precedence  of  all  others." 
Many  of  our  ablest  statesmen  fail  to  see  that  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  health  and  lives  of  their  constituents  is  one  of 
the  most  important  functions  of  the  States  and  the  nation. 

The  waste  from  diseases  that  ought  not  to  exist  in  a 
civilized  country  costs  the  United  States,  according  to  an 
estimate  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher,  of  Yale  University, 
more  than  a  billion  and  a  half  dollars  annually.  The 
South's  share  in  this  wanton  waste  from  preventable  dis- 
eases amounts  to  five  hundred  million  dollars  a  year,  not  to 
mention  the  suffering  of  the  sick  and  dying,  or  the  sorrow 
of  the  loved  ones  left  behind  to  mourn  the  deaths,  each  year, 
of  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  good  citizens,  who  ought 
not  to  die,  hut  who  are  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  our  igno- 
rance. 

Tuberculosis  is  said  to  be  the  most  destructive  disease 
that  affects  mankind.  It  kills  200,000  persons  each  year  in 
the  United  States,  and  it  is  estimated  that  1,000,000  have 
the  disease.  Our  country  wastes  more  than  $500,000,000 
every  year  in  the  loss  of  life  and  labor  from  the  ravages  of 
the  great  white  plague.  In  the  sixteen  Southern  States  ap- 
proximately 60,000  people  die  every  year  from,  and  not  less 
than  750,000  of  our  citizens  are  now  afflicted  with,  this  pre- 
ventable disease.  Tuberculosis  alone  causes  an  economic 
loss  to  the  South  of  more  than  $150,000,000  annually. 

Pennsylvania  spends  $1,487,903.50  per  annum  for  the 
prevention  of  tuberculosis,  and  her  State  Board  of  Health 
has  three  central  hospitals  and  fifteen  hundred  tuberculosis 
dispensaries,  besides  having  adequate  funds  to  educate  the 
public  regarding  methods  for  preventing  the  disease.     In 


90  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

the  last  ten  years  tuberculosis  has  dropped  from  first  to 
second  place  in  the  causes  of  death  in  Pennsylvania  and 
thousands  of  lives  have  been  saved  by  the  far-sighted  health 
policy  of  her  legislators.  Should  not  every  State  provide 
funds  to  conduct  a  campaign  against  this  greatest  enemy  to 
her  citizens? 

The  death  rate  from  malaria  is  insignificant  compared 
CO  the  number  of  cases ;  but  since  thousands  of  persons  are 
ill  and  inefFcient  a  part  of  the  time  each  year,  its  de- 
structive effects  are  manifested  in  the  economic  loss  to  the 
States  and  by  the  increase  in  general  death  rate.  L.  0. 
Howard,  Entomologist  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  estimates  that  malaiia  costs  the  United 
States  $100,000,000  annually.  R.  H.  von  Ezdorf,  who  has 
charge  of  the  malaria  work  for  the  United  States  Public 
Health  Service,  makes  a  minimum  estimate  of  $50,000,000, 
]\Iost  of  this  economic  waste  is  in  the  sixteen  Southern, 
States.  Besides  this  actual  loss,  the  development  of  our 
agricultural  resources  has  been  interfered  with  by  malaria, 
since  thousands  of  desirable  farmers  from  the  Middle  West 
have  sought  homes  in  Canada  and  the  Northwest  because 
they  feared  this  enemy  of  the  South. 

Malaria  has  been  practically  stamped  out  in  Havana 
and  in  the  Canal  Zone  by  the  South's  distinguished  son. 
Surgeon  General  Gorgas  of  Alabama.  Mississippi,  Louisi- 
ana, and  other  States  are  conducting  vigorous  campaigns 
against  malaria.  What  are  we  doing  to  stamp  out  this 
easily  prevented  disease  that  is  interfering  with  our  pros- 
perity? 

Typhoid  fever,  a  disease  resulting  from  filth,  and  which 
has  been  called  the  worst  of  sanitary  crimes,  is  said  to  be 
more  prevalent  in  the  South  than  in  other  regions  of  the 
United  States.  There  is  hardly  a  family  that  has  not  had 
some  of  its  members  stricken  with  typhoid  fever  at  some 
time,  yet  with  the  expenditure  of  a  comparatively  small 
sum  it  can  be  made  a  rare  disease  in  a  few  years.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  a  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Health 
of  Pennsylvania  indicates  what  might  be  done  in  prevent- 
ing typhoid  fever  in  the  South :  "Four  thousand  deaths  and 


THE  STATE  AND  PUBLIC  HEALTH  91 

forty  thousand  illnesses  from  typhoid  fever  was  the  annual 
toll  exacted  from  Pennsylvania's  citizens  ten  years  ago. 
To-day  it  has  been  decreased  more  than  75  per  cent, 
although  in  the  meantime  the  population  of  the  State  has 
increased  more  than  a  million ;  the  number  of  deaths  from 
this  cause  is  only  one-fourth  the  former  figure." 

How  long  will  we  bear  the  sanitarj^  disgrace  of  being 
classed  among  the  States  in  which  typhoid  fever  is  most 
prevalent? 

Two  million  persons  living  in  the  sixteen  Southern 
States  are  said  to  be  incapacitated  one-fourth  of  their  time 
because  of  hookworm  disease,  yet  it  remained  for  a  dona- 
tion from  a  Northern  philanthropist  to  begin  the  work  of  its 
eradication  in  the  South.  The  Rockefeller  fund  for  hook- 
worm will  not  be  available  after  this  year,  and  its  beneficent 
results  will  be  lost  if  the  States  do  not  appropriate  money 
to  save  our  boys  and  girls  from  the  energy-  and  life- 
sapping  disease  that,  perhaps  as  much  as  any  other  cause, 
is  responsible  for  illiteracy  in  the  South  and  for  the  ill 
health  and  inefficiency  of  a  respectable  proportion  of  our 
population  in  the  rural  districts. 

Pellagra  is  attracting  much  attention  at  this  time  be- 
cause it  is  a  dreadful  disease  and  seems  to  be  increasing. 
The  prevention  and  cure  of  pellagra  has  been  announced 
by  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service.  Whether  Gold- 
berger's  theory  of  the  unbalanced  diet  as  being  the  cause 
of  pellagra,  and  the  balanced  diet  the  cure  of  it,  is  accepted 
or  not,  we  do  know  that  it  prevails  most  among  the  poorly 
nourished  with  unsanitary  environments,  and  that  in  the 
early  stages,  with  proper  diet,  nearly  all  cases  get  well.  It 
is  largelj'-  a  rural  disease  and  may  be  eradicated  by  edu- 
cating the  people  of  the  country  to  the  necessity  of  a  varied 
diet,  in  which  milk,  vegetables,  fruit,  and  fresh  meats 
should  be  among  the  most  important  foods.  Should  not  the 
States  do  their  part  in  educating  the  people  regarding  the 
causes  and  the  cure  of  pellagra?  Most  of  the  Southern 
States  have  inaugurated  campaigns  for  education  among 
their  farmers  on  diversified  farming  because  of  its  economic 
importance  and  not  with  any  idea  of  preventing  disease,  but 


92  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

diversified  farming  will  decrease  pellagra.  When  the  farm- 
ers raise  their  own  foodstuff  and  have  their  own  cows  and 
gardens,  pellagra  will  become  one  of  the  rare  diseases,  or 
will  vanish. 

What  about  the  babies?  Do  the  innocent,  helpless  little 
children  get  a  fair  chance  to  live  in  the  South?  One  out 
of  every  four  babies  born  in  the  South  dies  before  the  age 
of  one  year.  One  out  of  three  children  dies  before  the  age 
of  five  years.  Last  year  25,000  babies  under  two  years  of 
age  died  of  diarrhea  in  the  South,  most  of  them  from  im- 
pure milk.  Have  our  States  ever  done  anything  to  safe- 
guard the  lives  of  the  babies  by  the  enforcement  of  the 
proper  laws  regarding  milk  production?  What  has  been 
done  to  educate  the  mothers  regarding  the  care  and  feed- 
ing of  their  babies  ?  The  State  boards  of  health  cannot  get 
the  simple  instructions  to  the  mothers  for  protecting  the 
lives  of  their  children  without  money  to  pay  for  printing 
and  without  an  adequate  force  of  trained  workers  in  child 
welfare.  It  is  therefore  the  duty  of  the  States  to  provide 
money  to  save  our  babies. 

We  hear  much  about  illiteracy  in  the  South,  and  we 
should  not  stop  until  this  blot  is  removed  from  our  States. 
Safeguarding  the  health  of  the  children  of  the  school  age 
and  their  parents,  who  must  provide  means  for  the  children 
to  attend  school,  is  essential  to  remove  illiteracy  from  the 
South.  Thousands  of  children  and  young  men  and  women 
are  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  an  education  because  of  the 
prevalence  of  hookworm,  malaria,  pellagra,  and  other  pre- 
ventable diseases.  Many  thousands  more  derive  but  little 
good  from  the  time  they  are  in  school  because  they  are 
weak  physically  and  mentally  from  the  chronic  diseases 
mentioned.  Improvement  of  health  conditions,  particularly 
in  the  rural  districts,  is,  therefore,  of  great  importance  in 
the  education  of  our  boys  and  girls. 

There  are  many  other  public  health  problems,  like  diph- 
theria, scarlet  fever,  venereal  diseases,  other  contagious  dis- 
eases, that  are  of  vital  importance  to  every  good  citizen, 
which  cannot  be  discussed  in  a  brief  address,  but  enough 
facts  have  been  presented  to  convince  any  thinking  man 


THE  STATE  AND  PUBLIC  HEALTH  93 

that  the  South's  greatest  need  is  the  money  and  the  trained 
men  to  "fight  these  hosts  of  death"  that  kill  and  wound  so 
many  of  the  bravest,  fairest,  and  best  men,  women,  and 
children  in  our  great  section.  Can  there  be  ariy  doubt  that 
the  South's  greatest  economic  problem  is  the  prevention 
of  disease? 

The  trouble  is  that  few  people  realize  that  human  beings 
have  a  money  value  unless  they  are  killed  or  injured  by  a 
railroad  or  by  an  automobile — then  they  come  high.  If  the 
States  had  to  pay  for  the  people  who  are  killed  and  injured 
by  reckless  indifference  regarding  the  prevalence  of  pre- 
ventable diseases,  at  the  same  rate  that  railroads  and  auto- 
mobile owners  have  to  pay  for  the  people  that  they  kill  and 
maim,  they  would  be  well-nigh  bankrupted  in  a  year.  Has 
not  a  citizen  the  same  right  to  expect  protection  from  dan- 
gerous diseases  as  he  has  the  right  to  expect  protection 
from  accidents  or  thieves  or  murderers?  How  much  does 
the  South  spend  for  courts,  jails,  and  prisons?  Then  con- 
sider the  insignificant  sum  that  is  given  to  our  health  de- 
partments to  fight  disease.  What  a  blind  statesmanship  in 
us  all! 

I  have  not  statistics  showing  the  amount  of  money  ap- 
propriated by  each  of  the  Southern  States  for  their  State 
boards  of  health,  but  I  do  know  what  is  appropriated  in  one 
State.  Alabama  gives  $25,000  per  year  to  its  State  Board 
of  Health,  for  its  treatment  of  all  human  diseases.  It 
appropriates  $30,000  for  the  eradication  of  cattle  ticks  and 
$30,000  for  establishing  a  laboratory  for  preparing  hog 
cholera  serum.  It  is  wise  and  right  that  the  State  should 
aid  in  protecting  cattle  and  hogs  from  disease,  because  it 
affects  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  Are  not  human  beings 
as  valuable  as  cattle  and  pigs,  and  is  not  the  prosperity  of 
our  people  affected  by  diseases  that  infect  men  and  women? 

Pennsylvania  last  year  appropriated  for  public  health 
work  in  that  State  during  the  next  two  years  $Jt.,632,387, 
which  is  more  than  all  the  sixteen  Southern  States  com- 
bined appropriate  for  public  health  work  in  ten  years.  The 
South  has  all  the  diseases  that  prevail  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  addition  has  malaria,  hookworm,  and  pellagra.    If  it  is 


94  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

good  business  for  Pennsylvania  to  spend  two  and  a  half 
million  dollars  a  year  in  preventing  diseases,  it  would  surely 
seem  that  the  Southern  States  ought  to  spend  amounts  pro- 
portionate to  their  population  and  wealth.  Surely  the 
health  and  lives  of  our  people  are  as  valuable  as  the  fami- 
lies of  the  men  and  women  of  Pennsylvania.  Many  of  the 
Southern  States,  however,  are  awaking  to  the  great  need  of 
public  health  work  and  in  some  States  magnificent  results 
have  been  accomplished  at  a  minimum  cost.  This  is  not- 
ably true  of  the  State  of  Louisiana,  whose  State  Board  of 
Health,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Oscar  Dowling,  a  Vice 
President  of  this  Congress,  has  made  an  enviable  record. 
Dr.  Dowling's  work  has  done  more  to  advertise  Louisiana 
in  a  favorable  way — i.  e.,  put  it  in  the  path  to  prosperity — 
than  anything  that  has  happened  in  the  State  for  many 
years.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that  many  desirable 
inhabitants  have  been  added  to  Louisiana  because  of  the 
impression  that  prevails  abroad  that  Dr.  Dowling  has 
cleaned  up  the  State,  made  it  a  healthful  and  desirable  place 
in  which  to  live. 

Virginia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Florida,  and  Mississippi 
are  also  making  excellent  records  in  public  health  work; 
but  none  of  the  States  in  the  South  is  doing  what  it  should 
in  preventing  diseases. 

The  best  investment  that  any  State  can  make  is  to  pro- 
vide a  sanitarian  as  a  whole-time  health  officer  in  each 
county. 

No  other  section  of  our  great  country  has  greater 
resources  than  the  South,  and  if  the  Southern  States  can 
be  freed  of  malaria,  hookworm,  and  pellagra,  thereby  in- 
creasing the  efficiency  of  the  poor  whites  and  negroes  as 
laborers,  capital  and  capitalists  will  pour  into  the  South  to 
develop  our  agricultural  and  mineral  lands,  the  cotton  mills 
will  come  to  our  cotton  fields,  and  every  industry  and  every 
individual  will  enjoy  prosperity  greater  than  we  ever 
dreamed  of  before. 

The  South  has  produced  the  greatest  sanitary  genius  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Surgeon  General  Gorgas's 
achievements  in  ridding  Havana  of  yellow  fever  and  ma- 


SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  FEE  SYSTEM  95 

laria  for  the  first  time  in  a  century,  and  in  changing  the 
Canal  Zone  from  a  veritable  death  hole  to  a  health  resort, 
represent  an  epoch  of  far-reaching  importance  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  world. 

In  a  recent  address  Surgeon  General  Gorgas  said :  "With 
the  eradication  of  malaria,  yellow  fever,  and  other  endemic 
diseases,  the  tropics  will  become  the  centers  of  industry  and 
population  of  the  world."  The  problem  of  eradicating  ma- 
laria, hookworm,  and  other  tropical  diseases  from  the  South 
is  much  simpler  than  in  Havana  or  on  the  Canal  Zone,  and 
we  should  profit  by  the  advice  of  Dr.  Gorgas  and  by  the 
examples  of  practical  sanitation  that  he  has  given  to  the 
world. 


SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  FEE  SYSTEM  IN  THE 
PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE 

ROBERT    S.    HYER,    A.M.,    LL.D.,    PRESmENT    SOUTHERN 
METHODIST  UNIVERSITY,  DALLAS,  TEX. 

All  are  agreed  that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire, 
but  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  agree  upon  the  value  of  his 
services.  Shall  the  personal  value  of  the  service  determine 
our  indebtedness  in  dollars  and  cents? 

A  man  falls  into  the  water  and  would  drown  were  it 
not  that  a  fisherman  in  a  boat  is  near  at  hand  and  pulls  him 
out.  To  save  a  man's  life  is  surely  the  greatest  service  that 
can  be  rendered  him,  but  in  this  instance  we  say  the  fisher- 
man is  to  receive  no  fee.  A  hero's  medal  may  be  awarded 
him,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  he  risked  his  own  life.  Later 
this  same  man  falls  ill.  The  doctor  tells  him  that  an  opera- 
tion is  necessary  to  save  his  life,  whereupon  he  submits  to 
the  operation  and  regains  his  health.  Apparently  his  life 
has  again  been  saved,  but  this  time  he  must  pay.  '  The  doc- 
tor sends  in  a  bill  for  one  thousand  dollars,  which  is  half 
of  the  patient's  yearly  income.  Has  he  been  charged  too 
much?    He  is  apt  to  think  so.    A  friend  of  his  next  becomes 


96  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

ill,  appearing  to  have  a  similar  affliction.  He  advises  the 
friend  to  have  a  similar  operation,  but  suggests  that  he  find 
a  cheaper  doctor.  One  is  found  v^ho  agrees  to  charge  only 
a  hundred  dollars.  The  operation  is  performed  and  the 
patient  dies,  the  doctor  explaining  that  the  operation  had 
been  delayed  too  long.  By  this  time  the  fortunate  patient 
is  not  so  sure  that  he  was  charged  too  much.  But  another 
friend  becomes  afflicted  in  a  similar  manner.  He,  too, 
should  submit  to  an  operation,  but  refuses  to  do  so  and  gets 
well.  Again,  the  first  patient  is  in  doubt  as  to  whether  he 
was  charged  too  much  or  not.  He  may  finally  conclude 
that  he  was  imposed  upon,  not  only  in  the  amount  of  the 
fee,  but  in  the  operation  itself. 

The  foregoing  is  just  enough  like  life,  just  enough  in 
accord  with  our  experiences  and  observations  to  make  us 
doubtful  of  our  ability  to  pass  judgment  on  the  fees  which 
doctors  are  accustomed  to  charge.  Ordinarily  we  say  of 
services  that  their  intrinsic  value,  the  skill  of  the  workman, 
the  time  required  to  prepare  himself  for  the  work  and  the 
time  necessary  to  perform  it  should  all  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. In  some  instances  emphasis  is  to  be  given  one 
particular  consideration  and  in  other  instances  it  is  a  dif- 
ferent one. 

If  I  were  appearing  as  an  attorney  for  the  doctor,  I 
would  call  your  attention  to  the  time  that  he  must  give  in 
preparing  for  his  profession.  Owing  largely  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  American  Medical  Association,  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  a  young  man  can  scarcely  enter  the  profession 
under  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  No  form  of  education 
is  quite  so  expensive;  the  standards  are  high  and  rigidly 
enforced. 

Just  now,  as  never  before,  we  are  prepared  to  form  a 
true  estimate  of  what  medical  science  can  do  for  humanity. 
We  have  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  all  sciences  as  the 
friend  of  man.  We  have  said  that  each  has  enlarged  and 
made  better  man's  estate.  But  lately  we  have  seen  how 
these  things  in  which  he  trusted  may  betray  him  in  the  hour 
of  his  greatest  need.    During  the  past  year  and  a  half  the 


SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  FEE  SYSTEM  97 

men  in  the  trenches  have  not  been  befriended  by  the  genii 
of  science;  they  have  been  attacked  with  a  fury  that  has 
made  war  vastly  more  terrible  than  ever  before.  These 
spirits  of  evil  have  fallen  upon  him  from  the  skies,  have 
risen  up  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  have  rolled  upon 
him  in  great  suffocating  billows.  When  unable  to  lay  hands 
upon  him  they  have  made  such  a  din  of  fury  about  him  as 
to  shatter  his  nerves  and  drive  him  mad. 

But  there  is  one  science  that  has  wrought  valiantly  for 
him  in  this  hour  of  his  greatest  need.  In  all  former  wars 
more  have  died  of  disease  than  in  battle,  and  the  seriously 
wounded  have  had  but  little  hope  save  for  a  speedy  death. 
In  the  present  war  the  soldier's  greatest  enemy,  pestilence, 
has  been  kept  away,  and  so  carefully  has  he  been  guarded 
that  his  health  in  the  trenches  has  been  about  the  same  as 
it  was  at  home,  and  the  wounded  have  recovered  in  a  very 
magical  way.  The  modern  cry  for  efficiency  has  been  fully 
met  by  the  modern  doctor — and  great  should  be  his  reward. 

Now  suppose  that  in  our  morning  paper  we  should  read 
that  one  of  the  great  powers,  England  or  France,  is  pre- 
paring to  reward  its  doctors  in  this  way :  A  careful  record 
is  being  kept  of  the  operations  performed  by  each  doctor, 
and  in  every  case  he  is  credited  with  the  pay  of  that  par- 
ticular patient  for  a  month,  six  months,  or  a  year,  accord- 
ing to  the  seriousness  of  the  case ;  and  whenever  he  enters 
the  ranks  to  examine  the  men  for  suspicious  symptoms  of 
disease  a  like  transfer  is  made  of  each  soldier's  pay  for  a 
day  or  a  week.  If  you  should  read  such  a  story  as  that  in 
to-morrow  morning's  paper,  you  would  say  that  it  was  a 
wicked  and  monstrous  thing  to  thus  rob  the  soldier  for 
the  benefit  of  the  doctor.  Some  people  declare  that  a  thing 
just  like  that  is  going  on  all  the  time  right  here  at  home. 

Recently  a  man  from  a  small  town  brought  his  wife  to 
the  city  to  be  examined  by  a  doctor  of  much  local  reputa- 
tion. Before  going  to  the  doctor's  office  this  man  called  to 
see  a  friend  to  ask  how  great  was  the  risk  in  taking  his  wife 
to  this  particular  doctor.  His  anxious  inquiry  was,  "Do 
you  suppose  he  will  charge  me  a  thousand  dollars  for  the 

7 


98  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

examination?"  Is  there  ever  real  ground  to  fear  that  a 
doctor  will  take  advantage  of  our  misfortune?  A  friend  of 
mine  was  convalescing  in  a  great  hospital.  His  surgeon 
came  by  to  inform  him  that  he  was  about  to  go  to  Europe 
for  a  vacation.  "You  are  about  well  and  will  not  need  me 
any  longer."  "Before  you  go,  Doctor,  may  I  learn  what 
you  are  going  to  charge  me?"  "Well,  let's  see.  The  man 
in  the  room  next  to  you  has  just  paid  me  five  thousand  dol- 
lars, the  man  in  the  room  across  the  hall  will  pay  four  thou- 
sand dollars.  I  will  make  your  bill  just  three  thousand." 
And  that  was  three-fourths  of  the  patient's  yearly  income. 
I  was  once  in  the  office  of  a  physician  whose  average 
daily  income  is  more  than  seventy  dollars.  He  had  just 
received  a  bill  for  some  repairs  on  an  office  building  which 
he  owned.  The  plasterers  had  charged  him  seven  dollars 
per  day,  the  price  current  in  that  city  at  that  time.  "See," 
said  he,  "how  the  mechanics  of  this  town  are  highwaymen 
and  rascals!"  Then  I  went  home  and  took  a  look  through 
my  books  to  see  if  I  could  find  a  story  that  would  put  a 
better  taste  in  my  mouth  when  I  thought  of  the  gentleman 
of  the  medical  profession.  As  my  eye  fell  upon  Chaucer 
I  recalled  the  lawyer,  the  miller,  the  clerk,  and  the  friar,  all 
of  whom  surely  needed  to  go  to  Canterbury;  but  I  could 
recall  no  doctor  among  the  pilgrims.  When  I  looked  on 
Scott,  I  remembered  his  gentle  humor  that  makes  us  laugh 
at  preacher,  schoolmaster,  and  lawyer;  but  Scott  makes  no 
fun  of  doctors,  and  makes  us  hold  his  "worthy  leech"  in 
high  regard.  Then  when  I  came  to  Dickens  I  remembered 
the  hypocrisy,  the  selfish  greed,  the  unworthy  deed  of  many, 
among  whom  was  a  particularly  infamous  nurse ;  but  I  could 
recall  no  doctor  among  the  unworthy  of  Dickens.  Then  I 
turned  to  that  great  stage  of  human  drama  which  Balzac 
has  filled  with  so  many  different  types — mostly  ignoble,  un- 
worthy, and  some  infamous.  Among  those  that  played  their 
part  upon  that  great  stage  I  recalled  one  who  was  truly 
great  and  truly  good :  the  country  doctor,  who  transformed 
a  community  of  idle,  ignorant,  selfish  peasants  into  a  town 
of  thrift,  intelligence,  and  true  brotherhood.     Then  I  took 


SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  FEE  SYSTEM  99 

down  the  book  and  read  aigain:  "Is  he  not  a  clever  doctor?" 
"I  do  not  know;  he  cures  poor  people  for  nothing."  "He 
must  be  quite  a  man."  "O  yes,  and  a  good  man  too.  There 
is  scarcely  any  one  hereabouts  that  does  not  put  his  name 
in  their  prayers,  morning  and  night." 

When  the  visitor  meets  this  doctor,  he  can  detect  no 
sign  of  a  wish  to  appear  generous  or  to  pose  as  a  philan- 
thropist; but  he  hears  him  say:  "Rich  people  shall  not  have 
all  my  time  by  paying  for  it.  It  belongs  to  the  folks  here 
in  the  valley." 

This  country  doctor  and  Maclaren's  "Doctor  of  the  Old 
School"  are  both  idealized  characters.  In  this  practical 
modern  age  of  ours  it  would  not  be  practical — would  it? — 
for  a  doctor  to  even  approximate  such  an  ideal. 

At  Rochester,  Minn.,  are  two  brothers  who  began  as 
country  doctors.  Like  Balzac's  doctor,  they  have  changed 
an  insignificant  village  into  an  important  town.  They  have 
brought  wealth  to  this  community,  for  their  fame  has  spread 
to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Perhaps  at  least  fifty  new  pa- 
tients come  from  all  sections  each  day.  At  least,  there  are 
so  many  that  the  entire  medical  staff  must  begin  work  every 
day  at  seven  o'clock.  The  casual  visitor  can  see  that  these 
patients  are  just  the  ordinary  people  that  we  meet  every- 
where. Some  are  rich,  more  are  poor — the  majority  of  mod- 
erate means.  These  doctors  do  not  pose  as  philanthropists — 
they  expect  everybody  to  pay  something;  but  no  one  com- 
plains that  he  has  been  overcharged.  Their  rule  is  that  a 
patient  is  never  to  pay  them  more  than  one-tenth  of  his 
yearly  income.  The  aggregate  of  such  fees  has  been  great. 
William  and  Charles  Mayo  do  not  live  in  the  finest  houses  in 
their  town,  but  they  have  recently  presented  the  State  of 
Minnesota  with  a  million-dollar  clinic. 

Could  such  a  system  be  given  a  wider  application  ?  Some 
are  contending  that  the  fee  system  cannot  be  made  satis- 
factory by  modification,  that  it  must  be  entirely  abandoned. 
They  tell  us  that  the  Chinese  have  solved  the  problem :  pay- 
ing their  doctors  to  keep  them  well,  his  pay  stopping  when 
they  get  sick  and  beginning  again  only  when  they  get  well. 


100  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

This  example,  however,  may  not  convince  every  one ;  for  we 
want  not  only  equitable  fees,  but  competent  doctors  also,  and 
the  Chinese  rule  seems  to  have  produced  no  high  degree  of 
skill  in  medical  practice. 

In  certain  communities  the  fee  system  has  been  sup- 
planted by  the  salary  system.  A  number  of  colleges  and 
universities  charge  each  student  a  yearly  fee,  ranging  from 
three  to  ten  dollars,  for  medical  service.  This  is  the  col- 
lege physician's  fee  for  the  following  services: 

First,  each  student  at  stated  intervals  must  report  to 
the  college  physician  for  a  physical  examination,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  determined  what  form  of  physical  exercise 
should  be  required  of  him.  Recently  two  cases  came  to  my 
knowledge  which  show  the  value  of  such  a  regulation. 
Among  the  students  preparing  to  begin  training  for  track 
work  two  were  found  who  had  leaky  hearts.  As  soon  as 
this  was  discovered  they  were  peremptorily  forbidden  to 
indulge  further  in  any  form  of  athletic  sport.  Another 
benefit  that  is  claimed  for  this  system  of  official  examination 
is  that  it  tends  to  preserve  purity  of  life  among  the  stu- 
dents. The  certainty  of  detection  should  he  become  con- 
taminated is  a  moral  restraining  influence. 

Secondly,  each  student  has  the  privilege  of  medical  ex- 
amination at  all  times.  He  is  encouraged  to  go  to  the  phy- 
sician for  the  slightest  symptom  of  illness.  All  cases  which 
do  not  require  removal  to  a  hospital  are  treated  without 
charge.  Wherever  this  rule  has  been  tried  it  has  given  satis- 
factory results. 

The  cynic  would  say  that  it  works  well  because  all  of 
the  weakness  and  selfishness  of  human  nature  are  arrayed 
on  the  side  of  the  patient.  It  is  to  the  doctor's  personal 
interest  that  there  should  be  just  as  few  cases  of  sickness 
as  possible,  and  he  will  see  to  it  that  his  services  are  de- 
manded in  each  case  for  as  short  a  time  as  possible. 

Can  this  salary  system  be  given  a  wider  application?  It 
has  been  tried  in  a  number  of  industrial  communities  and, 
so  far  as  I  am  informed,  has  been  more  satisfactory  th§in 
the  usual  fee  system.    In  communities  where  the  individuals 


SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  FEE  SYSTEM  101 

are  on  practically  the  same  level,  both  socially  and  finan- 
cially, it  may  be  possible  to  greatly  improve  health  conditions 
generally  and  to  reduce  individual  suffering  and  its  at- 
tendant hardships  by  the  adoption  of  the  salary  system. 
But  vv^here  society  has  its  usual  complexities  the  attempt  to 
introduce  such  a  system  might  become  unsatisfactory,  im- 
practicable, and  hazardous.  We  do  devoutly  wish  that  for 
his  own  sake,  as  well  as  ours,  the  doctor  could  be  less  in- 
fluenced by  the  desire  to  acquire  wealth.  We  admit  that  he 
is  worth  more  to  us  than  ever  before,  and  that  some  are 
worth  more  than  others.  We  cannot  afford  to  restrain  by 
legislation  the  desire  which  he  has  in  common  with  all  of 
us,  if  by  so  doing  we  are  going  to  retard  medical  progress 
and  reduce  all  doctors  to  the  same  level  of  the  commonplace 
and  inefficient.  But  should  not  something  be  done  to  relieve 
us  from  some  of  the  recognized  evils  of  the  fee  system? 
The  doctors  themselves  admit  that  it  has  one  great  attend- 
ant evil — namely,  fee-splitting.  But  that  is  another  story 
that  we  are  not  going  to  consider  now. 

The  average  layman  is  concerned  not  so  much  over  how 
this  fee  is  to  be  divided  as  to  the  fact  that  he  is  absolutely 
at  the  mercy  of  the  doctor  as  to  the  amount  of  that  fee.  The 
doctor  claims  he  has  so  much  charity  practice  that  he  must 
get  a  fat  fee  when  he  finds  the  man  who  can  be  made  to  pay 
it.  He  usually  charges  what  he  thinks  the  patient  can  be 
induced  to  pay.  The  rule  of  Robin  Hood  and  his  merry  men 
was  to  take  from  the  rich  and  give  a  part  to  the  poor. 
However  much  our  youthful  judgments  approved  of  this 
poetic  justice,  our  maturer  opinion  is  that  we  would  rather 
have  the  question  of  the  distribution  of  wealth  settled  by 
general  legislative  enactment  or  the  working  of  economic 
laws  than  left  to  the  caprice  and  personal  greed  of  some 
doctors. 

Whenever  enlarged  opportunity  and  greater  power  have 
been  given  an  art,  an  industry,  or  a  commercial  enterprise, 
a  new  moral  code  of  conduct  has  often  been  demanded  by 
public  opinion,  and  if  not  granted  has  been  enforced  by 
legislation.  Now  that  the  medical  profession  has  gained 
such  larger  power,  let  it  profit  by  these  examples! 


102  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 


SOME  EVILS  OF  SELF-MEDICATION 

ISADORE  DYER,   PH.B.,   M.D.,  DEAN   OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF   MEDI- 
CINE, TULANE  UNIVERSITY  OF  LOUISIANA, 
NEW  ORLEANS 

The  average  individual  places  too  high  an  estimate 
upon  his  own  intelligence.  The  more  educated  men  and 
women  rely  much  less  upon  their  own  judgment  in  mat- 
ters upon  which  they  know  they  are  not  informed ;  the  less 
educated  stumble  into  all  sorts  of  pitfalls  from  the  assump- 
tion of  a  superior  information,  which  does  not  really  exist. 

The  host  of  watchful  pirates  appreciates  this  fact  and 
always  calculates  upon  the  vanity  and  self-indulgence  of  an 
inferior  intelligence.  The  cure-all  brigade,  therefore,  con- 
tinues to  flourish  and,  curiously  enough,  is  still  able  to  find 
many  courageous  supporters  who  are  not  at  all  influenced 
by  a  succession  of  doubtful  experiences. 

Most  patent  medicine  manufacturers  have  no  conscience 
and  their  sole  object  is  to  make  money.  Their  methods  are 
always  seductive  and  flourish  a  vast  "success"  by  means  of 
a  blatant  pretense  which  in  its  very  audacity  carries  some 
conviction  to  those  who  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  do  their 
own  thinking.  The  enormous  army  of  people  which  helps 
in  the  money-making  does  not  seem  to  grow  any  less  in 
spite  of  a  wider  education.  The  conclusion  must  be  that 
patent  medicine  consumption  has  become  an  established 
vice,  to  be  classed  with  all  other  sorts  of  prostitution,  only 
worse  because  of  the  uncertain  results  from  its  indulgence. 

The  charlatan,  as  such,  has  been  with  us  since  the  begin- 
ning of  history;  his  methods  have  varied  with  the  times. 
The  chief  assets  of  the  trade  have  always  been  pretense  and 
audacity,  covered  by  incantation  at  first,  later  by  a  mass 
of  high-sounding  terms,  sufficiently  obscure  to  create  the 
proper  curiosity  in  the  ignorant  victim.  The  examination 
of  any  of  the  present-day  preparations  will  show  a  con- 
tinuance of  these  practices — the  confusion  of  a  pretended 
medical  application  of  terms  being  sufficient  to  satisfy  the 
overcurious. 


SOME  EVILS  OF  SELF-MEDICATION  103 

There  has  been  a  wholesale  slaughter  of  pretentious 
fakirs  in  the  last  few  years,  because  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment has  taken  a  hand  in  helping  the  public,  in  spite  of 
itself.  Within  the  past  decade  the  pure  food  and  drug  laws 
have  compelled  a  proper  labeling  of  patent  medicines,  and 
those  formerly  carrying  all  kinds  of  poisons  have  either 
had  to  modify  their  formulas  or  have  had  to  go  out  of  busi- 
ness. The  victims  of  the  habits  of  opium,  cocaine,  and  alco- 
hol have  less  opportunity  to  satisfy  their  vices  by  the  use 
of  the  nostrums  formerly  going  into  the  household  as  medi- 
cines, but  really  adding  to  the  host  of  fakes  by  their  mere- 
tricious labels.  Men,  women,  and  children  have  been  the 
unconscious  victims  of  such  drugs — innocently  beginning 
with  a  wholesale  familiar  use  of  a  remedy  which  had  no 
virtue  but  a  lurking  wreck  in  it. 

The  prosecution  by  the  government  has  successfully 
silenced  a  large  number  of  well-known  cure-alls,  but  the 
drug  stores  of  to-day  still  have  nearly  half  of  their  shelves 
filled  with  the  miscellaneous  collection  of  sure  remedies  for 
every  ill,  from  ingrowing  toe  nails  to  galloping  consumption 
and  floating  kidney. 

The  druggist  cannot  be  honest,  even  if  he  desired  to  be, 
for  the  public  continues  to  demand  such  things ;  and  in  most 
cities,  if  the  drug  store  will  not  supply  them,  the  purchaser 
is  able  to  find  many  of  them  in  the  department  store. 

Nearly  all  of  the  stuff  has  been  derived  from  some  origi- 
nal prescription  of  some  physician,  and  either  a  patient  or 
a  drug  clerk  has  furthered  the  prescription  to  a  popular  use. 
A  prescription  which  may  have  been  given  originally  for 
acute  indigestion  may  ultimately  develop  into  a  patent 
medicine  claiming  to  cure  a  dozen  organic  diseases. 

The  curious  part  of  the  business  is  that  when  the  victim 
of  one  patent  medicine  derives  no  benefit  from  the  first  one, 
he  goes  on  experimenting  with  others,  equally  useless,  and 
finally  employs  a  physician  as  a  last  resort ! 

Occasionally  the  experience  assumes  a  criminal  aspect 
which  ought  to  be  deterrent.  Several  years  ago  an  Ohio 
druggist  sold  a  cough  remedy  of  his  own  make  to  a  middle- 
class  workman,  who  wanted  it  for  a  child  at  his  home.    The 


104  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

medicine  proved  fatal  to  the  child  and  the  result  was  a  five 
years'  penitentiary  term  for  the  druggist.  In  this  instance 
Ohio  enforced  its  drug  laws.  Other  States  have  such  laws, 
but  as  yet  their  enforcement  has  not  been  sufficient  to  put 
the  patent  medicines  out  of  business. 

No  unqualified  person  may  practice  medicine  in  most 
States.  This  means  that  no  unqualified  or  unlicensed  per- 
son may  administer  drugs  for  the  treatment  or  cure  of  dis- 
ease or  engage  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  provision,  it  is  possible,  in  most  States,  for  news- 
papers to  advertise  remedies  which  are  much  more  poten- 
tial of  real  harm  than  practice  by  an  unlicensed  physician. 
The  remedies  which  newspapers  advertise  are  full  of  possi- 
bilities of  dangerous  injury  to  the  community,  but  no  law 
has  yet  arrived  through  which  the  people  have  attempted 
self-protection. 

The  better  class  of  newspapers  have  long  since  closed 
their  advertising  pages  to  such  nostrums,  but  there  are  still 
newspapers  venal  enough  to  go  on  advertising  impossible 
remedies.  One  of  the  New  Orleans  dailies  has  an  array  of 
advertisements  covering  pretentious  remedies  for  the  dis- 
orders of  the  stomach,  skin,  lungs,  etc.,  while  one  remedy 
alone  proposes  to  cure  such  variable  disorders  as  indiges- 
tion, rheumatism,  and  nervous  debility.  Any  day  other 
such  advertisements  may  appear,  with  no  conscience  in  the 
business  office  as  to  the  paper's  obligation  to  the  public, 
which  assuredly  assumes  the  editorial  indorsement  of  such 
propaganda. 

The  street  cars  present,  in  prominent  display,  notices  of 
cough  syrups,  bowel  evacuants,  and  other  stuff,  each  with 
more  assurance  of  results  than  the  average  intelligent  doc- 
tor would  venture,  even  when  he  knew  the  diagnosis  of  the 
particular  disease. 

The  householder  would  soon  rebel  against  the  trades- 
man who  took  advantage  of  his  pocketbook  by  selling  some- 
thing through  misrepresentation;  but  so  many  are  gulled 
by  the  patent  medicine  business  that  it  seems  a  matter  of 
unobjectionable  habit.  The  case  with  which  such  nostrums 
have  been  obtainable  has  made  self-medication  a  habit. 


SOME  EVILS   OF  SELF-MEDICATION  105 

The  supposed  economy,  too,  has  played  a  large  part  in  the 
practice. 

The  medical  profession  has  been  partly  responsible  for 
many  cases  of  self-medication,  through  proper  motives,  no 
doubt.  The  frank  discussion  of  the  patient's  medical  needs 
often  leads  the  latter  to  an  assumption  of  knowledge  on  his 
own  account  at  another  occasion.  The  physician  may  sug- 
gest that  he  thinks  the  patient  needs  a  little  strychnine 
for  a  few  days,  to  tone  him  up.  The  next  time  the  patient 
feels  that  he  needs  toning  up,  he  takes  strychnine  of  his 
own  accord  and  absolutely  without  the  knowledge  that  he 
really  needs  strychnine — when  it  may  even  be  contraindi- 
cated.  The  ease  with  which  he  so  advises  himself  tends  to 
make  him  adviser  to  others,  and  before  long  he  has  devel- 
oped a  group  of  strychnine  adherents,  in  turn  dosing  them- 
selves in  ignorance  of  their  need  of  such  a  whip  to  their 
arteries.    Other  drugs  are  likewise  abused. 

The  coal  tar  products,  as  phenacetin,  antipyrine,  and 
antifebrine,  grew  into  universal  usage  a  few  years  ago. 
The  public  learned  that  these  were  commonly  administered 
by  physicians,  so  the  public  began  to  use  the  drug  on  their 
own  account.  Any  sort  of  headache  was  treated  with  one 
or  another  of  these  products,  and  often  without  any  regard 
to  dosage.  I  have  known  a  lay  person  to  take  a  half  tea- 
spoonful  of  antipyrine  at  the  dose,  with  the  statement  that 
a  smaller  dose  did  no  good ! 

The  harm  comes  through  the  self-diagnosis  which  may 
postpone  the  real  determination  of  a  remote  and  serious 
cause  of  the  symptoms  until  it  is  too  late.  More  than  one 
case  of  kidney  disturbance  and  degeneration  has  gone  on  to 
a  fatal  issue,  through  the  neglect  of  simple  beginning 
symptoms. 

The  introduction  of  aspirin  and  its  easy  administra- 
tion have  added  this  drug  to  the  household  provisions.  The 
other  coal  tar  products  have  practically  disappeared  under 
the  aspirin  popularity.  "Why  don't  you  take  some  aspi- 
rin?" is  almost  as  common  an  expression  as  "How  do  you 
do?"  and  the  variety  of  applications  of  aspirin  is  difficult 
to  define.     The  result  is  that  many  families  buy  aspirin 


106  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

wholesale — and  administer  it  proportionately.  These  prac- 
tices have  led  to  a  very  natural  result — namely,  a  high  de- 
gree of  carelessness  vi^ith  drugs,  and  their  abuse  in  sheer 
recklessness.  The  only  too  frequent  victim  of  such  fool- 
hardiness  does  not  seem  to  act  as  deterrent. 

Many  a  consumptive  has  been  hustled  into  an  earlier 
grave  by  a  wholesale  use  of  some  horse  liniment  or  some 
patent  cough  cure,  when  a  reasonable  amount  of  medical 
attention  might  have  saved  them. 

Fortunately  the  education  which  has  come  about  in 
recent  years  has  been  supported  by  the  suppression  of  the 
more  flagrant  ofi'enders.  The  end  is  not  yet  in  sight,  how- 
ever. The  newspapers  more  and  more  detail  the  court  pro- 
cedures which  show  the  manner  in  which  the  public  is 
played  for  mercenary  ends.  Only  recently  the  account  of 
a  notorious  case  detailed  the  manner  in  which  women  have 
been  led  to  write  most  intimately  of  themselves  to  men  and 
women  in  the  offices  of  a  nostrum,  and  these  men  and 
women,  when  forced  to  confess,  declared  in  plain  terms 
that  none  of  them  had  any  sort  of  a  medical  education ;  yet 
they  were  ready  to  make  a  diagnosis  of  and  to  treat  all 
sorts  of  diseases,  some  of  which  could  not  possibly  be  in- 
fluenced by  any  medicine  on  earth. 

Children  are  forced  into  the  habit  of  household  medica- 
tion with  all  sorts  of  drugs,  in  a  penny  wise  and  pound 
foolish  method  of  supposed  health  protection;  and  only 
when  they  have  suffered  the  consequence  are  they,  in  later 
life,  made  aware  of  the  abuse  of  their  constitutions  by  the 
patent  medicines  they  have  swallowed.  Certain  household 
remedies  may  have  their  places,  but  these  are  certainly 
limited  in  number  and  should  be  restricted  to  emergency. 
The  cause  of  disease  is  often  obscure,  and  any  ignorant  in- 
terpretation of  symptoms  is  sure  to  lead  to  ultimate  dis- 
tress. Drugs  at  best  are  uncertain  implements,  and  the 
number  of  real  service  and  in  actual  medical  use  is  smaller 
as  the  days  go  by,  in  spite  of  the  multiplication  of  drugs  by 
the  manufacturers. 

The  druggist  in  time  may  cease  to  act  as  adviser  as 
soon  as  he  is  forced  to  limit  his  occupation  to  the  provisions 


THE  MARRIAGE  HEALTH  CERTIFICATE  107 

of  his  practice  covered  by  his  license,  which  at  no  time 
contemplated  that  he  should  treat  disease.  He  confesses 
that  the  profit  he  derives  from  patent  medicines  does  not 
justify  his  sale  of  them. 

The  matter  rests,  then,  almost  entirely  with  the  pub- 
lic, the  more  intelligent  public  really ;  for  they  must  attack 
evil  practices  as  destructive  of  their  own  integrity  and  as 
the  offense  of  a  continued  violation  of  health,  truth,  and 
justice  against  those  with  whom  they  are  socially  bound  up. 
It  is  ours  to  produce  a  legislation  so  restricting  the  use  and 
abuse  of  all  drugs  as  to  protect  the  generations  to  come, 
and  to  relieve  and  deliver  those  of  the  present  generation, 
who  are  as  yet  too  ignorant  to  protect  themselves. 


THE  MARRIAGE  HEALTH  CERTIFICATE 

OSCAR  BOWLING,  M.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  BOARD  OF 
HEALTH,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

It  is  just  seventy-four  years  since  Tennyson,  the  seer- 
poet  of  England,  pictured  his  "vision  of  the  world  and  all 
the  wonder  that  would  be."  Many  read  with  enjoyment  the 
rhythmic  lines,  thrilling  with  youth  and  hope,  but  few 
shared  in  his  faith.  To  his  own  generation,  and  even  to 
those  that  followed,  "the  nations'  airy  navies  grappling  in 
the  central  blue"  seemed  merely  a  fiction,  a  creation  of  the 
poet's  imagination.  To-day,  in  the  daily  news,  we  read  the 
long  death  roll  of  Zeppelin  and  aeroplane  victims ;  we  read 
of  struggles  in  the  "airy  blue"  of  the  deadly  instruments  of 
modern  civilized  warfare. 

This  single  illustration  serves  to  show  the  world's  prog- 
ress in  control  of  nature's  forces  since  the  dreamer  wrote 
his  vision.  In  other  sciences  than  war  there  have  been  even 
greater,  if  less  spectacular,  achievements.  To  transport  an 
army  in  flying  machines  is  a  glorious  tribute  to  man's  intel- 
ligence and  power,  but  the  conquest  of  the  unseen  enemies 
to  human  health  and  vigor  and  life  is  even  more  marvelous 
and,  as  we  see  things,  far  more  beneficent.  The  one  great 
fact  that  nature's  own  poison,  her  own  active  agent  in  the 


108  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

cause  of  disease  and  death,  can  be  turned  into  a  beneficent 
saving  agency  is  paramount ;  that  the  tiny  vegetable  or  ani- 
mal microbe,  the  cause  of  economic  loss  and  suffering  and 
death,  can  be  transmuted  in  the  laboratory  into  a  curative 
and  preventive  agent  is,  perhaps,  of  all  the  discoveries  of 
all  the  sciences  the  greatest  in  its  import  to  human  welfare. 

I  have  used  just  these  two  achievements  as  signposts 
of  progress  since  1842.  They  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the 
heights  from  which  we  view  the  widened  horizon ;  they  are 
significant  of  what  has  been  done,  and  an  earnest  of  other 
and  greater  accomplishments  toward  which  our  faces 
are  set. 

As  the  dominant  note  of  modern  medicine  is  prevention, 
it  touches  the  subject  assigned  me  for  discussion,  "The 
Marriage  Health  Certificate." 

Naturally  our  first  inquiry  is,  Have  we  sufficient  knowl- 
edge on  this  subject  to  become  arbiters?  Have  the  sciences 
proved  principles  which  justify  law  and  their  enforcement? 
Are  the  facts  of  heredity  so  established  that  we  may  be  cer- 
tain of  a  rational  and  scientific  basis  for  restrictive  laws 
relating  to  marriage?  Is  biology  so  clear  in  its  teaching 
that  we  may  feel  confident?  Is  medicine  absolutely  sure? 
Is  eugenics  yet  a  science? 

A  reasonable  certainty  of  positive  facts,  fundamental 
and  essential,  should  be  ours  before  any  legislation  is  at- 
tempted or  proposed  which  enters  so  intimately  into  the 
social  system  and  into  the  life  of  the  individual  as  this.  We 
are  told  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  universal,  that  the  laws 
of  heredity  are  the  same,  whether  we  consider  the  ancestry 
of  the  chicken,  the  horse,  or  the  human  being.  Doubt- 
less, in  the  main,  this  is  true,  but  no  one  will  deny  that 
there  is  an  essential  difference  in  the  mating  of  human 
beings  and  animals.  There  is  the  element  of  election  to  be 
considered.  The  stock  expert  may  breed  a  fine  racing 
mare,  but  his  intelligence  made  the  selection  of  the  sire 
and  dam.  There  can  be  no  such  arbiter  in  the  union  of 
human  beings.  The  principles  of  heredity  may  be  ever  so 
well  defined,  but  their  application  cannot  be  made  by  an 
outside  agency.     Choice,  attraction — the  human  element 


THE  MARRIAGE  HEALTH  CERTIFICATE  109 

plays  its  part.  It  follows  that  education,  not  legislation, 
is  essential,  and  this  can  be  only  after  principles  have  been 
clearly  evolved. 

However,  this  is  only  one  aspect.  There  are  facts 
proved  by  preventive  medicine  which  bear  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Observations  teach  that  a  child  may  be  born  with  dis- 
ease, but  that  it  is  not  inherited  unless  transmitted  from 
parent  to  child  through  the  germinal  cells.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  diseases  which  are  clearly  transmissible 
from  one  person  to  another;  from  mother  to  child;  from 
husband  to  wife.  Tuberculosis  of  the  lungs  and  the  vene- 
real diseases,  most  especially  gonorrhea,  are  highly  trans- 
missible. Medicine  affirms  that  from  these  the  innocent 
may  be  protected. 

Logically,  if  not  really,  we  may  differentiate.  In  this 
legislation  there  are  two  oujects  in  view,  the  protection  of 
the  individual  and  protection  of  the  unborn.  The  courts 
have  set  a  standard  in  one  of  these,  if  not  the  other.  In 
New  York  the  Supreme  Court  recently  ruled  that  conceal- 
ment of  tuberculosis  justifies  the  legal  annulment  of  the 
marriage  contract.  A  similar  decision  in  regard  to  gonor- 
rhea has  been  handed  down  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wis- 
consin. If  these  diseases  can  be  diagnosed  (and  they  can), 
if  these  diseases  are  infectious  (and  they  are) ,  then  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  scientific  basis  for  restrictive  leg- 
islation concerning  them. 

There  are  other  bodily  states  which,  for  the  want  of  a 
better  term,  we  call  disease  that  fall  into  the  class  with 
tuberculosis  and  the  venereal  maladies — alcoholism,  in- 
sanity, and  moral  degeneracy.  Alcoholism  in  this  sense 
means  not  the  drinking  habit,  not  even  habitual  drunken- 
ness, but  more  than  either.  It  means  the  inherent  defect 
which  may  show  itself  in  drunkenness,  in  the  "dope"  habit, 
or  in  other  forms  of  perverted  appetite.  While  it  is  con- 
ceded that  the  alcoholic  parent  may  beget  healthy  children, 
family  histories  show  that  "with  continued  debauchery  of 
parent  the  children  become  progressively  less  rugged  in 
constitution,"  and  the  result  finally  is  a  condition  inimical 
to  the  natural  development  before  birth. 


110  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Evidence  seems  clear  that  defects  of  a  certain  charac- 
ter are  hereditary  and  that  they  manifest  themselves  in  a 
condition  which  we  call  insanity.  Intelligent,  intensive 
study  now  in  progress  in  every  well-managed  hospital  for 
the  insane  is  bringing  us  every  day  nearer  to  a  scientific 
diagnosis  of  this  condition.  As  yet,  we  have  little  that  can 
be  used  as  a  working  basis  for  legislation. 

Gross  inherent  moral  depravity  can  be  considered  as  a 
condition  which  may  be  ascertained.  We  have  not  suf- 
ficient evidence  to  affirm  without  qualification  the  trans- 
mission of  crime  or  criminal  tendency.  While  family  rec- 
ords show  criminals  generation  after  generation,  usually 
those  same  individuals  show  other  weaknesses,  many  be- 
ing in  the  nature  of  imperfect  mental  development.  Al- 
though the  conclusions  of  scientists  as  to  the  hereditary 
effect  of  these  bodily  states  are  not  explicit,  some  States 
have  in  the  matter  of  the  moral  degenerate  passed  laws 
which  are  proof  of  conviction  that  the  State  has  a  right  to 
protect  itself  from  the  transmission  of  this  type  of  defect. 

In  New  Jersey  last  September  the  Court  of  Chancery 
handed  down  a  decision  on  insanity.  It  declared  that  the 
concealment  by  one  party  of  insanity  in  the  family  is  not 
a  ground  for  annulment  of  marriage.  I  have  quoted  the 
decree  of  the  courts  in  three  cases  of  recent  date  more  to 
indicate  the  complexities  of  this  question  than  for  any  other 
reason.  This  phase  also  is  illustrated  in  the  ruling  of 
Judge  F.  G.  Eschweisler,  of  Milwaukee,  on  the  marriage 
law  of  that  State,  handed  down  in  January,  1914.  The 
Judge  declared  the  law  unconstitutional  because  of  the 
small  fee  ($3)  provided  for  the  examination.  It  was  held 
that  a  thorough  examination  could  not  be  made  for  this 
amount,  and  if  the  physician  should  give  a  certificate  with- 
out the  thorough  examination,  he  might  be  liable  for  per- 
jury. When  to  the  difficulties  which  grow  out  of  our  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  the  laws  of  heredity,  biology,  and 
physiological  psychology,  we  add  the  lack  of  machinery  for 
the  proper  enforcement  of  a  marriage  health  certificate  law, 
we  are  appalled  at  the  outlook.  That  any  law  may  be  en- 
forced, there  must  be  a  strong  public  demand.    More  espe- 


THE  MARRIAGE  HEALTH  CERTIFICATE  111 

cially  is  this  true  of  a  law  which  affects  intimately  the 
personal  privileges  of  the  individual.  We  have  just  begun 
to  perceive  the  idea  of  social  oneness.  We  are  yet  in  the 
state  of  mind  which  subordinates  society  to  the  individual. 
We  are  not  convinced  that  society  is  justified,  even  for  its 
own  protection,  in  passing  a  regulation  which  goes  beyond 
those  traditional  in  relation  to  property  and  violence.  The 
state  of  mind  is  logical.  Preventive  medicine  and  mental 
sciences  are  so  new  that  the  great  masses  of  the  people  have 
not  yet  confidence  in  their  conclusions,  and  many  are  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  well-established  facts  and  principles. 

I  have  suggested  the  obstacles  to  a  law  on  this  subject. 
Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  situation.  Authentic 
reports  tell  the  story  of  thousands  of  deaths  from  tuber- 
culosis each  year  and  tens  of  thousands  of  cases.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  venereal  diseases.  In  the  asylums  we  find 
insanity  traceable  to  alcoholism  and  syphilis  and  many  with 
a  heritage,  apparently,  of  moral  as  well  as  physical  degen- 
eracy. I  have  purposely  omitted  mention  of  the  vast  army 
of  the  feeble-minded,  though  they  too  form  a  part  of  the 
problem.  We  know  that  these  conditions  exist  and  we 
know  that  the  State,  the  community,  the  public,  are  being 
injured  by  the  perpetuation  of  these  canker  sores.  Are  we 
not  under  obligation  to  put  into  effect  such  laws  as  we 
know  can  be  framed  on  a  basis  of  scientific  facts  furnished 
by  biology  and  medicine?  Shall  we  not  make  a  beginning 
in  the  hope  that  further  requirements  will  be  demanded  as 
the  simple  regulations  first  adopted  prove  themselves  ? 

Let  us  have  a  law  requiring  a  health  certificate  exami- 
nation which  would  he  limited  to  diseases  clearly  and  un- 
mistakably transmissible  from  person  to  person.  This  at 
least  would  protect  the  innocent  party.  It  would  sec- 
ondarily aid  in  the  development  of  a  social  conscience  on 
the  single  standard  of  morals,  and  it  would  be  educational. 
The  examinations  for  tuberculosis,  even  for  syphilis  and 
gonorrhea,  if  placed  under  community  control,  would  soon 
prove  the  expense  involved  justified.  Budgets  are  elastic 
when  it  comes  to  control  of  an  epidemic  of  any  communi- 
cable diseases.     Budget  makers  should  take  into  account 


112  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  lessened  number  of  persons  the  community  would  have 
to  care  for  if  poverty  due  to  the  death  of  the  wage-earner 
and  the  sickness  of  the  families  of  those  infected  could  be 
prevented. 

We  need  not  fear  a  rational  law  based  on  facts  that  are 
known.  We  have  great  need  to  beware  of  freakish  or  un- 
reasonable legislation  on  this  or  any  other  subject.  A  law 
pertaining  to  public  health,  not  too  radical,  based  on  com- 
mon sense,  wins  support,  slowly  it  may  be,  but  surely.  The 
Wisconsin  marriage  law  was  fought  bitterly;  it  was  de- 
clared by  one  court  unconstitutional,  but  sustained  by  the 
higher  tribunal,  and,  in  spite  of  the  unfavorable  social  con- 
ditions for  its  enforcement  and  bitter  opposition,^it  is  gain- 
ing in  public  favor. 

Another  aspect  of  this  subject  is  its  effect  on  the  rela- 
tive number  of  legal  and  illegal  marriages.  It  is  contended 
that  any  restriction  of  marriage  tends  to  the  extension  of 
illicit  intercourse  and  to  the  development  of  irresponsibility 
as  to  the  civic  or  religious  formalities.  No  doubt  the  civil 
license  required  reacts  toward  the  same  result.  But  the 
need  of  a  legal  certificate  is  established  in  the  public  mind ; 
its  uses  are  accepted  and  regarded  as  a  community  and  indi- 
vidual right  and  safeguard.  The  same  would  soon  become 
true  of  the  health  certificate.  No  one  will  deny  that  under- 
lying the  union  of  two  human  beings  is  the  primal  impulse 
of  nature.  It  is  the  impelling  force  of  the  universe.  All 
living  things  obey  the  call. 

"In  the  spring  a  livelier  iris  shines  upon  the  burnished  dove, 
In  the  spring  a  young  man's  fancy  lightly  turns  to  thoughts 
of  love." 

Is  it  wise  or  economic  from  nature's  point  of  view  to 
place  restrictions  which  may  turn  nature  from  her  way  or 
give  excuse  for  the  setting  aside  that  which  tends  to  the 
stability  of  the  family  life?  The  reply  is  written  in  our 
statute  books  on  many  other  subjects.  We  have  developed 
far  beyond  the  animal  of  the  lower  order  or  the  savage. 
For  good  or  ill,  we  have  traveled  toward  social  solidarity. 
It  has  cost  the  individual  something ;  it  may  cost  him  more. 
But  nature  herself  teaches  a  lesson.    Of  fifty  seeds,  not  one 


STANDARD  FOR  DRINKING  WATER  113 

may  live.  The  whole  is  greater  than  its  parts.  No  man 
lives  or  dies  unto  himself.  Whether  we  will  or  no,  we  are 
bound  for  a  goal  which  means  the  sacrifice  of  the  individ- 
ual for  the  good  of  the  whole — when  necessary.  Partly  in 
our  ignorance  of  nature's  laws  in  some  things  we  have 
brought  upon  ourselves  the  penalty.  It  would  seem  that 
through  the  individual,  his  development  and  his  sacrifice, 
society  is  to  become  perfect.  Then  back  through  that  there 
will  come  the  perfection  of  the  individual. 

While  the  difficulties  and  complexities  surrounding  the 
operation  of  a  marriage  law  seem  insuperable  and  unsolv- 
able,  we  should  not  be  discouraged.  Science  has  just 
stepped  across  the  portal  of  the  unknown ;  society  has  only 
a  glimpse  of  the  potential  force  of  social  unity ;  men  see  as 
in  a  glass  darkly.  The  vision  of  the  poet  of  forty  years 
ago  is  concrete  fact  to-day ;  the  vision  of  the  social  reformer 
to-day  may  seem  a  Utopian  dream,  but  achievements 
already  won  give  us  hope  and  faith. 


MAINTAINING  A  PROPER  BACTERIOLOGICAL  AND 
CHEMICAL  STANDARD  FOR  DRINKING  WATER 

W.  H.  SEEMANN,  M.D.,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

The  connection  of  water  and  disease  has  been  so  thor- 
oughly exploited  and  is  so  well  understood  by  most  peo- 
ple who  are  engaged  in  sociological  work  that  it  need  not 
be  referred  to. 

From  a  sanitary  standpoint  the  maintenance  of  a  prop- 
er control  over  the  water  supply  rests  upon  the  proofs 
which  experience  and  study  have  given  us.  Economically, 
the  great  financial  loss  to  a  community  which  is  incident  to 
cases  of  typhoid  fever  is  in  itself  adequate  justification  for 
a  consistent  and  determined  effort  on  the  part  of  communi- 
ties to  maintain  a  good  and  sufficient  water  supply.  The 
question  that  is  not  yet  thoroughly  decided  is  the  one  relat- 
ing to  the  consideration  of  the  methods  which  are  best  to 
apply  to  this  end  and  the  manner  in  which  these  methods 
should  be  applied.     As  Prescott  many  years  ago  affirmed 


114  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

in  his  article  on  "Farm  Water  Supplies"  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Public  Health,  there  is  a  decided  difference  in 
the  chemical  and  bacteriological  characteristics  of  the 
natural  types  of  water — namely,  meteoric,  surface,  and 
hroivn  water.  Rain,  snow,  and  hail,  belonging  to  the  first 
group,  forming  by  condensation  of  moisture  from  large 
bodies  of  water,  such  as  the  oceans,  rivers,  and  lakes,  are 
somewhat  like  distilled  water,  and  under  proper  conditions 
of  collection  and  storage  may  be  comparatively  pure,  this 
being  especially  true  where  cut-offs  are  used,  and  the  early 
fall  of  rain  which  contains  impurities  from  the  roofs  of 
buildings  and  the  air  is  discarded.  In  such  waters  the  num- 
ber of  bacteria  is  usually  low  and  the  water  generally  very 
"soft."  With  surface  waters  the  contact  with  the  soil  is 
sufficient  to  change  the  aspect  of  the  water  from  a  chemical 
and  bacteriological  standpoint.  In  the  case  of  deep  waters 
a  further  change  is  found  on  account  of  the  filtration  by 
which,  in  most  instances,  the  bacterial  content  is  reduced 
and  the  chemical  content  increased. 

It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  in  discussing  the  meth- 
ods by  v/hich  some  fairly  fixed  standard  of  purity  may  be 
arrived  at,  that  experiments  and  observation,  which  must 
be  carefully  reported,  collected,  and  passed  on  by  com- 
petent investigators,  should  form  the  basis  for  the  formu- 
lation of  the  rules  and  standards  which  are  to  become  the 
working  manuals  of  all  activities  in  the  purification,  hand- 
ling, and  supervision  of  water  supplies. 

First  of  all  agencies  are  the  municipalities  or  private 
companies  which  furnish  water  supplies.  It  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity  that  these  organizations  should  have  the  serv- 
ice of  a  laboratory  worker,  who  is  able  to  make  examina- 
tions and  maintain  a  daily  supervision  of  the  outgo  from 
the  plant. 

As  a  check  further  on  this  control,  the  municipal  health 
boards  should  stand  as  guardians  of  the  water  supply. 
These  boards  can  operate  with  most  efficiency  first  of  all 
by  making  daily  examinations  of  water  samples  for  bac- 
teriological impurities,  and  examination  at  least  weekly 
from  a  chemical  standpoint.     In  addition,  the  vital  statis- 


STANDARD  FOR  DRINKING  WATER  115 

tics  department,  with  the  aid  of  maps  and  other  agencies, 
should  keep  a  careful  watch  on  the  morbidity  rates  of  wa- 
ter-borne conditions  in  order  that  at  the  very  first  sign  of 
danger,  as  indicated  by  these  records,  an  immediate  and 
more  thorough  investigation  of  the  water  supply  may  be 
made. 

In  order  to  maintain  a  high  standard  of  efficiency  and 
attention  on  the  part  of  the  two  preceding  agencies,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  the  boards  of  health  of  the  dif- 
ferent States  maintain  a  constant  supervision  over  all  the 
water  supplies  of  the  State,  increasing  their  vigilance  and 
attention  and  multiplying  their  activities  v/hen  either  of 
the  other  two  agencies  are  found  deficient,  either  on  account 
of  lack  of  interest  or  application  or  on  account  of  deficiency 
of  equipment  or  finances.  In  an  advisory  capacity  and  in 
a  supervisory  capacity,  on  account  of  the  superior  authority 
vested  in  State  boards  of  health,  they  should  be  better  pre- 
pared in  equipment,  field  forces,  and  finances  than  either 
of  the  other  agencies.  Among  the  different  activities  that 
are  absolutely  essential  to  the  proper  control  of  water  sup- 
plies by  State  boards  of  health  are  a  bacteriological  depart- 
ment, an  analytical  chemical  department,  and  a  department 
of  sanitary  engineering.  For  the  best  efficiency,  these  de- 
partments in  relation  to  the  water  supply  question  should 
be  grouped  together  under  one  head,  a  supervisory  depart- 
ment of  water  supplies. 

The  great  distances  to  be  traversed  in  order  that  sam- 
ples may  reach  a  central  laboratory  afford  considerable  ob- 
stacles to  the  successs  of  a  constant  supervision  of  the 
water  supplies.  To  obviate  this  difficulty  branch  labora- 
tories should  be  established  or,  as  has  been  done  by  the 
Louisiana  State  Board  of  Health,  a  laboratory  car  should 
be  provided.  We  have  now  in  connection  with  the  activi- 
ties of  the  Louisiana  State  Board  of  Health  a  laboratory 
car — i.  e.,  a  converted  Pullman  car — in  which  every  facility 
afforded  by  a  modern  laboratory  is  at  hand  for  the  pur- 
pose, among  other  things  and  above  all  other  things,  of 
maintaining  a  proper  and  constant  supej'vision  of  the  wa- 
ter supply  of  this  State.    This  car  is  now  in  actual  opera- 


116  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

tion  at  Lake  Charles,  and  its  great  value  in  these  four  days 
of  operation  has  been  proven  by  the  fact  that  some  thirty- 
five  or  forty  samples  of  water  have  been  collected  and  ex- 
amined according  to  standard  methods,  without  the  least 
inconvenience  or  delay,  and  in  each  instance  it  has  been 
possible  to  have  the  specimens  in  the  incubator  in  an  aver- 
age of  a  half  hour  after  collection.  Where  a  laboratory  car 
is  not  available,  and  even  in  conjunction  with  one,  proper 
water  containers  for  the  shipment  of  water  samples  is  an 
absolute  necesssity.  We  use  here,  in  connection  with  the 
work  of  the  Louisiana  State  Board  of  Health,  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  Nebraska  type  of  water  container,  which  we 
have  been  able  to  produce  at  the  low  cost  of  $5,30  a  con- 
tainer, and  which  is  practically  indestructible,  and  has 
proven  of  great  value  to  us. 

While  most  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  sanitary  or  socio- 
logical work  are  well  acquainted  with  the  im.portance  of  the 
water  problem,  the  great  majority  of  the  citizens  whom  we 
serve  are  absolutely  uneducated  and  negligent  about  this 
question.  The  passage  and  promulgation  and  enforcement 
of  laws  on  this  subject  is  a  mandatory  duty  on  the  part  of 
legislators,  but  more  far-reaching  in  its  consequences  and 
more  lasting  in  its  benefits,  in  this  as  well  as  in  every  other 
health  work,  is  education.  By  education  I  do  not  mean  the 
distribution  of  high-sounding  pamphlets  or  the  delivery  of 
flowery  speeches  to  an  assemblage  of  mystified  hearers,  but 
I  am  convinced  that  individualizing  the  instruction  is  neces- 
sary in  this  as  in  every  other  field, 

A  bad  result  of  the  examination  of  a  water  supply  should 
not  be  merely  followed  by  a  peremptory  letter  of  vague 
instructions,  but  should  automatically  mean  that  a  follow- 
up  inspection  and  personal  discussion  of  the  proposition 
should  be  put  in  effect.  Along  with  this  system  of  individ- 
ual instruction,  the  confidence  of  the  public  is  absolutely 
necessary  in  the  promotion  of  any  public  enterprise,  and 
this  demands  not  only  an  unfaltering  and  consistent  watch- 
fulness on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  but,  in  return  for  the 
confidence  imposed,  an  added  duty  of  taking  the  public  into 
the  confidence  of  the  authorities  is  not  more  than  common 
justice. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TRAINED  NURSE  117 

It  is  possible,  especially  in  filtration  plants,  that  no  mat- 
ter how  great  the  efficiency  or  how  constant  and  loyal  the 
watchfulness,  there  may  come  a  time  when  the  water  is 
unsafe;  then,  if  it  is  not  possible  to  immediately  remedy 
this  condition  by  disinfection  at  the  source  of  supply,  a 
prompt  notification  of  the  conditions  should  be  made  to  the 
consumers.  Otherwise  the  liability  and  moral  responsi- 
bility incurred  are  too  great  for  any  man  or  set  of  men  to 
assume.  Some  system  of  control  of  waste  products,  espe- 
cially of  sewage  in  streams  which  are  used  as  a  source  of 
water  supplies,  must  be  undertaken  and  carried  out  sooner 
or  later.  In  some  sections  of  the  country  this  necessity  has 
already  been  recognized  and  met  in  part. 

Here  in  the  South  the  subject  has  been  given  consider- 
able attention,  but  not  a  great  deal  of  action  has  been 
produced. 

In  summing  up  the  situation,  I  believe  that  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  proper  bacteriological  and  chemical  standard  for 
drinking  water  resolves  itself  into  these  three  things — 
namely,  watchfulness  and  preparedness  on  the  part  of 
supervisory  health  bodies;  confidence  and  a  compliance 
with  sanitary  laws  on  the  part  of  the  public,  and  education, 
education,  education. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TRAINED  NURSE 

MARY    M.    RIDDLE,    R.N.,    REPRESENTING    AMERICAN    NURSES' 
ASSOCIATION  AND  THE  NATIONAL  LEAGUE  OF  NURS- 
ING EDUCATION,   NEWTON,   MASS. 

Florence  Nightingale  returned  from  the  Crimea  im- 
bued with  the  thought  that  England  must  have  more  and 
better  nurses  so  that  another  war,  near  or  distant,  should 
not  find  the  nation  again  so  totally  unprepared  to  bear  the 
burden  of  adequately  caring  for  its  sick  and  maimed ;  Pas- 
tor Fliedner  and  his  good  wife  deplored  the  want  of  refine- 
ment, limited  education,  and  shortness  of  vision  in  their 
devout  and  self-sacrificing  deaconesses ;  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission and  its  leading  workers  in  our  own  country  in  the 
sixties  learned  that  their  powers  were  curtailed  and  their 


118  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

purposes  sometimes  even  thwarted  by  the  shortage  of 
skilled  nurses.  Accordingly  the  establishment  of  training 
schools  for  nurses  during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  became  a  part  of  the  history  of  England  and  the 
United  States.  It  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  need  of  the 
world  for  such  service;  and  while  the  schools  multiplied  in 
an  almost  unprecedented  manner,  the  need  for  more  and 
better  nurses  for  the  sick  and  well  continues. 

Nurses  there  have  always  been,  from  the  animals  and 
early  savages  who  cared  for  their  young  by  instinct,  men 
and  women  of  the  early  Christian  era  who  nursed  their  sick 
as  a  religious  ceremony,  thus  accomplishing  penance  for 
sins,  on  down  to  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War,  which  pro- 
duced an  awakening  of  the  conscience  of  the  nations  and 
some  action  on  the  part  of  earnest  and  public-spiirited  men 
and  women. 

The  need  was  everywhere  felt  and  nurses  must  be  edu- 
cated to  meet  the  need.-  It  was  realized  at  length  that  more 
than  good  intent,  willingness  to  work,  and  great  physical 
powers  of  endurance  were  required  to  make  a  nurse  accept- 
able to  all  grades  of  people  under  all  the  exigencies  of  their 
service ;  but  one  of  the  earliest  to  express  a  wish  for  quali- 
fications in  advance  was  Pastor  Fliedner's  wife,  the  super- 
intendent of  the  deaconesses,  w^ho  longed  for  better  op- 
portunities for  them  both  before  and  during  their  period 
of  training,  and  this  too  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the 
deaconesses  were  most  devoted  to  their  duty  and  technic- 
ally quite  capable. 

One  may  better  appreciate  the  position  taken  by  Mrs. 
Fliedner  when  one  remembers  the  admonition  to  her  pupils 
which  finally  became  her  motto:  "Never  sacrifice  the  soul 
of  the  work  for  its  technique." 

This  theory,  though  now  and  then  temporarily  obscured 
by  the  haste  of  nurse  teachers  and  the  selfishness  of  hos- 
pitals and  the  public,  remains  one  of  the  basic  principles 
upon  which  is  built  the  superstructure  of  nurse  education. 

Instruction  in  the  early  nurse  schools  of  our  country 
was  good,  though  circumscribed  (in  practice  it  was  excel- 
lent), and  many  noble,  self-sacrificing  women  were  gradu- 


TPIE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TRAINED  NURSE  119 

ated  from  them  to  take  the  places  in  life  where  they  were 
required. 

The  women  themselves  were  older  in  years  and  had  set- 
tled and  firm  convictions  regarding  their  choice  of  a  calling. 
The  training  was  almost  never  an  experiment,  but  was  al- 
ways taken  with  a  desire  to  become  useful.  The  first 
schools  furnished  many  missionaries  for  the  foreign  field. 

Tim.es  have  changed,  the  advancing  years  have  brought 
new  problems  to  be  solved  for  the  public  health,  and  these 
problems  have  frequently  demanded  talents  as  yet  undevel- 
oped and  minds  untrained  along  the  lines  required. 

In  corroboration  of  this  statement  one  has  but  to  recall 
the  status  of  the  trained  nurse  in  this  country  twenty-five 
years  ago,  when  the  only  kinds  of  work  open  to  her  were 
the  different  branches  of  nursing  in  hospitals  and  other  in- 
stitutions and  the  care  of  the  sick  in  their  own  homes.  These 
remain,  but  they  have  been  vastly  increased  by  the  addition 
of  the  various  forms  of  public  health  nursing  and  other 
welfare  work  calling  for  the  skilled  services  of  the  trained 
nurse.  The  so-called  district  or  visiting  nursing,  though 
having  had  its  inception  earlier,  has  nearly  all  grown  up 
within  this  period,  while  nurses  in  the  public  schools,  in  the 
army  and  navy,  in  medical  social  service,  in  the  nurses' 
settlements,  and  in  the  various  positions  with  boards  of 
health  have  all  come  into  being  within  the  last  two  decades. 

When  one  considers  that  7iine  hundred  nurses  are  em- 
ployed in  the  health  department  of  Neiv  York  City  aloney 
one  can  but  realize  what  a  huge  army  is  required  to  satisfy 
the  demands  of  even  this  country. 

To  meet  this  condition,  hospitals  and  schools  of  nursing 
have  been  confronted  with  a  double  proposition--— they  must 
turn  out  more  and  better  qualified  nurses,  and  at  the  same 
time  they  must  have  more  and  better  within  their  own 
walls. 

The  registration  laws  have  temporarily  added  somewhat 
to  the  difficulty,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  ultimate 
advantage. 

Again  the  demand  for  nurses  has  been  augmented  by  the 
methods  followed  in  the  practice  of  modern  medicine  and 


120  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

surgery.  The  nursing  profession  is  called  the  handmaiden 
of  the  profession  of  medicine.  The  medical  profession  has 
many  times  found  itself  unable  to  proceed  without  the  as- 
sistance of  the  nurse. 

The  growth  and  development  of  the  nursing  profession 
and  its  scope  for  usefulness  is  little  short  of  marvelous.  It 
is  less  than  fifty  years  since  the  first  school  for  nurses  was 
established  in  this  country,  and  yet  to-day  they  are  num- 
bered by  thousands.  It  is  less  than  twenty  years  since  the 
first  laws  for  the  registration  of  nurses  were  passed,  and 
to-day  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union  has  a  statute  which 
more  or  less  clearly  defines  the  status  of  the  nurse  and 
establishes  a  minimum  standard  of  training. 

This  growth  and  this  development  have  in  no  sense  been 
by  chance.  Wise  men  and  women  early  saw  the  possibili- 
ties for  the  new  calling  which  had  not  yet  been  given  the 
name  of  a  "profession,"  and  were  quick  to  take  advantage 
of  them  and  assist  in  unfolding  them;  mostly,  it  must  be 
confessed,  for  the  benefit  of  the  hospital,  which  has  seldom 
returned  "value  received"  to  the  nurse  who  gave  her  all  for 
at  least  two  years  in  the  hospital.  There  are  few  instances 
when  such  condemnation  should  be  allowed  to  fall  upon  the 
head  of  any  individual.  The  superintendent  of  the  school 
as  well  as  the  superintendent  of  the  hospital  reasoned 
rightly  that  the  first  item  for  consideration  in  a  hospital  is 
the  best  interest  of  the  patient,  therefore  all  things  else 
must  give  way  that  he  may  have  every  opportunity  for 
ultimate  recovery  and  the  resumption  of  his  place  in  life. 
To-day  his  interests  are  as  completely  guarded  and  his  wel- 
fare as  carefully  studied,  but  it  is  no  longer  so  generally 
believed  that  his  salvation  should  be  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
nurse,  but  rather  that  the  nurse  should  receive  such  instruc- 
tion while  caring  for  him  as  to  enable  her  the  better  to  care 
for  future  patients  of  his  kind. 

While  it  has  taken  time  to  correct  the  earlier  errors,  the 
time  taken  is  so  comparatively  little  as  to  prove  the  preva- 
lence of  the  sense  of  justice  and  expediency  in  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  directors  of  hospitals  and  schools,  as  well  as 
their  ability  to  convert  boards  of  control  and  governors  to 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TRAINED  NURSE  121 

the  same  belief.  To-day  problems  remain.  There  have 
been  solutions,  but  they  have  hardly  kept  pace  with  the 
growths  and  demands.  Increase  in  the  number  of  nurse 
schools  calls  for  an  increase  in  capable  instructors  and 
supervisors.  Increased  demand  for  the  services  of  public 
health  nurses  signifies  that  more  must  be  prepared  for  the 
work,  and  so  on  down  the  whole  line  of  nurse  activities. 
Increase  in  work  means  increase  in  education,  in  prepara- 
tion ;  and  vice  versa,  increased  preparation  is  sure  to  be  met 
with  additional  opportunities  for  work. 

It  is  the  duty  of  nurse  instructors  not  only  to  keep  in 
step  with  the  requirements,  but  to  be  sufficiently  far- 
sighted  and  alert  as  to  be  a  few  paces  in  advance  and  con- 
sequently able  to  anticipate  them.  Therefore  education  is 
the  slogan  in  the  camp  of  the  nurses  to-day. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  has  its  opposition,  which 
comes  from  friend  and  foe  in  almost  equal  proportion. 
There  are  very  evidently  two  reasons  for  the  hostility.  The 
friends  fear  that  early  ideals  regarding  the  nurse  and  her 
work  may  be  sacrificed;  the  foes  see  as  the  result  of  the 
increased  educational  opportunities  an  output  of  nurses, 
obstreperous,  authoritative,  and  unmanageable — a  type 
hitherto  unknown,  but  greatly  to  be  dreaded  and  avoided. 
The  opposition  of  the  former  class  is  negative  and  arises 
from  apprehension;  that  of  the  latter  is  positive,  selfish, 
and  obstructive. 

The  fearful  should  be  calmed  by  the  reflection  that  there 
is  naturally  less  sentiment  in  the  worker  of  the  present, 
whether  he  works  for  pleasure  or  for  his  bread,  but  more 
sense  and  just  as  much  real  charity  or  benevolence  as  there 
has  ever  been.  The  change  is  due  more  to  a  change  in 
method  and  a  desire  for  definite  results  than  to  a  change  in 
motive.    Time  will  do  much  for  the  calming  of  the  fearful. 

The  obstructionist  fails  in  knowledge,  possibly  through 
want  of  experience,  it  may  be  through  obduracy.  His  psy- 
chological sense  should  teach  him  or  his  mental  processes, 
aided  by  the  smallest  amount  of  experience,  should  reveal 
to  him  the  fact  that  the  well-bred  man  or  woman  who 
works  with  the  finest  intelligence  and  keenest  perception 


122  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

does  the  best  and  most  acceptable  work;  and,  other  things 
being  equal,  does  it  for  a  longer  period  of  time  than  does 
any  other  class  of  workman.  Intelligence  enables  him  to 
adapt  himself  readily  to  his  work  and  suggests  means  for 
improving  his  methods.  It  gives  a  sense  of  power  with  a 
resultant  pleasure  that  can  only  be  productive  of  better 
work.  To  him  no  necessary  work  is  menial  or  debasing. 
His  objective  is  the  finished  product  in  which  he  expects 
perfection  no  less  when  it  is  nursing  work  done  for  the 
sick  mind  or  body  than  if  it  were  done  in  bronze  or  stone 
designed  to  last  through  ages. 

For  early  recognizing  this  necessity  and  the  possibili- 
ties for  meeting  it,  too  much  credit  cannot  be  given  Mrs. 
Isabel  Hampton  Robb,  who,  w^ith  her  colleague  and  pupil, 
Miss  M.  Adelaide  Nutting,  was  most  instrumental  in  hav- 
ing established  at  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  University, 
a  course  in  what  was  at  first  known  as  Hospital  Economics, 
but  which  has  since  developed  into  the  Department  of  Nurs- 
ing and  Health. 

Education  as  there  offered  and  from  there  distributed 
has  very  thoroughly  inculcated  the  principle  that  the  first 
essential  toward  the  production  of  a  good  and  highly  intel- 
ligent nurse  is  a  young  woman  of  refinement;  of  good, 
though  not  always  college  education;  of  ability  to  assimi- 
late that  which  is  presented  and  with  power  to  adapt  it  to 
the  need  at  hand.  For  this  standard  some  criticism  has 
been  offered,  but  it  has  grown  less  with  time,  as  the  aver- 
age mind  settles  down  on  the  homely  axiom  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  make  something  out  of  nothing. 

Schools  of  nursing  should  be  willing  to  supplement  the 
already  acquired  education  and  give  the  pupil  every  oppor- 
tunity for  making  the  most  of  her  instruction  and  environ- 
ment ;  but  in  three  short  j^ears  they  can  do  little  other  than 
their  specific  work,  and  this  is  therefore  an  additional  rea- 
son why  the  entrance  requirements  to  the  school  should 
be  high.  Opportunities  for  practical  work  are  far  more 
frequent  than  is  that  for  theoretical  instruction. 

Notwithstanding  the  improvements  in  the  education  and 
technical  training  of  nurses  during  the  last  decade,  and  the 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TRAINED  NURSE  123 

uplift  of  the  calling  by  the  nurses  themselves,  who  are 
largely  responsible  for  the  advancements  made,  there  are 
many  who  contend  that  nursing  is  not  a  profession.  An 
eminent  physician  once  gave  several  reasons  why  nursing 
shou'd  not  be  so  called: 

1.  Becai'se  its  members  make  no  sacrifices  for  its  pro- 
motion and  do  nothing  in  its  practice  for  charity.  He  was 
evidently  unacquainted  with  the  fact  that  the  course  in 
Hospital  Economics  was  largely  financed  by  contributions 
from  the  modest  earnings  of  nurse  superintendents  of  train- 
ing schools;  he  knew  nothing  of  the  hours  and  days  of 
serv  ■{  e  ^<yen  by  nurses  for  which  no  bill  is  rendered  and 
no  account  kept ;  and  he  had  evidently  never  heard  how  the 
sympathetic  nurse  is  constantlj'-  meeting  the  question  of 
furnishing  skilled  nursing  service  to  the  family  of  moderate 
means  without  a  reduction  in  her  scale  of  prices. 

2.  Because  nurses  have  no  social  sense.  Possibly  not 
— but  the  nurse  who  travels  up  and  down  the  street  seek- 
ing employment  for  her  patient  soon  to  be  released  from 
the  hospital  has  something  within  her  which  acts  as  a 
pretty  good  substitute,  and  it  would  seem  her  efforts  would 
be  called  fairly  good  medical  social  service.  Or  that  nurse 
superintendent  of  the  hospital  who,  upon  the  discovery  that 
her  patient  is  totally  unable  to  pay  for  his  care  and  treat- 
ment, interests  herself  in  securing  it  for  him  from  some 
other  source,  may  not  be  doing  social  service,  so  labeled, 
but  at  least  an  expert  would  recognize  it  as  such.  Again, 
was  it  not  a  great  social  as  well  as  civil  service  that  was 
rendered  by  the  nurse  in  New  York  who  was  responsible 
for  the  introduction  of  the  work  of  the  trained  nurse  into 
the  public  schools  of  her  city? 

3.  Because  nurses  have  produced  no  literature.  Appar- 
ently he  had  not  seen  the  various  textbooks  for  nurses  pro- 
duced by  nurse  authors,  nor  known  of  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Nursing,  whose  records  of  the  progress  of  events  in 
the  nursing  world  form  a  correct  history. 

The  sum  total  of  the  contributions  which  nurses  are 
constantly  making  to  causes  for  the  betterment  of  their 
own  profession  cannot  be  reached  without  mention  being 


124  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

made  of  the  Isabel  Hampton  Robb  Memorial  Fund,  now 
less  than  six  years  in  the  collecting.  It  has  reached  about 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars,  from  which  are  granted  an- 
nually six  hundred  dollars  in  scholarships  to  those  nurses 
desirous  of  better  fitting  themselves  for  advanced  work  in 
some  branch  of  nursing. 

Aside  from  one  or  two  generous  friends  of  nurses  and 
believers  in  the  possibilities  for  the  improvement  of  their 
status,  this  sum  has  all  come  in  small  sums  from  nurses 
themselves,  who  thereby  show  a  loyalty  and  a  devotion  to 
the  better  education  of  their  class  rarely  witnessed  in 
any  other. 

Recent  months  have  demonstrated  anew  the  value  of  the 
nurse  in  times  of  disaster.  Under  the  Red  Cross  she  has 
been  a  pronounced  factor  in  ameliorating  conditions  in  our 
own  country  in  times  of  fire,  flood,  or  other  sudden  and  un- 
expected misfortune.  But  the  place  she  has  taken  in  nurs- 
ing the  soldiers  of  the  European  war  is  unique.  The  rec- 
ords of  the  nurses  with  the  "Red  Cross  Nursing  Service" 
are  almost  v/ithout  a  blemish  and  speak  of  her  strength,  her 
capability,  her  faithfulness,  and  her  law-abiding  respon- 
sibility. 

Though  her  social  status  is  undefined,  she  represents  the 
best  elements  of  womankind,  and  of  all  the  earnest  work- 
ers for  the  betterment  of  health  conditions  and  the  resultant 
improvement  of  social  conditions  she  stands  preeminent, 
for  she  is  distinctly  "to  the  manner  born."  She  knows 
her  place  and  fills  it  aptly,  while  she  strengthens  the  hands 
of  others  who  go  in  and  out  to  serve. 

The  world  may  not  know  where  to  place  her ;  the  learned 
professions  may  be  unwilling  to  admit  her;  but  she  knows 
she  cannot  be  spared  from  the  high  places  nor  the  low 
places  wherever  the  sick  may  be,  and  she  knows  it  remains 
for  her  to  "press  on  toward  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  her 
high  calling." 

She  therefore  keeps  upon  the  walls  of  the  innermost 
recesses  of  her  heart  these  insignia : 

Education  for  Service. 
Excellence  in  Service. 


HOUSING  IN  PREVENTING  DISEASE  125 

HOUSING  IN  PREVENTING  DISEASE 

R.  H,  CREEL,  M.D.,  SURGEON  U.  S.  PUBLIC  HEALTH  SERVICE 

RESIDENTIAL  conditions  and  surroundings  undoubtedly 
are  greatly  predisposing  in  causing  a  number  of  diseases, 
but  more  especially  in  tuberculosis,  pneumonia,  typhoid, 
malaria,  yellow  fever,  dengue,  and  bubonic  plague. 

TUBERCULOSIS 

No  less  an  authority  than  Osier  refers  to  tuberculosis  as 
"a  house  disease."  Almost  invariably  it  will  be  found  in 
the  summaries  of  tuberculosis  surveys  that  overcrowding 
and  lack  of  ventilation  are  prominently  mentioned  as  fac- 
tors conducive  to  the  production  of  the  disease. 

It  should  be  realized,  however,  that  so  many  coincidental 
conditions  are  involved  that  a  true  measure  of  the  effect 
of  overcrowding  on  tuberculosis  prevalence  cannot  be  de- 
termined, for  with  overcrowding  are  found  the  attendant 
ills  of  lack  of  ventilation,  frequently  ignorance  and  disre- 
gard of  personal  hygiene,  and  vicious  enervating  habits,  all 
leading  to  a  debilitated  state  of  body. 

Making  due  allowance  for  such  coincidental  factors,  in- 
vestigators nevertheless  lay  great  stress  on  overcrowding. 
In  a  comprehensive  survey  in  Berlin,  Knoff  found  that 
forty-two  per  cent  of  his  cases  of  tuberculosis  occurred  in 
families  living  in  only  one  room,  forty  per  cent  in  families 
housed  in  two  rooms,  and  that  only  six  per  cent  of  the  cases 
were  found  in  those  families  affording  four  rooms  or  more 
for  domiciliary  purposes. 

Russell  of  Glasgow  found  that  the  yearly  death  rate  in 
families  occupying  five  rooms  or  more  was  only  11.2  per 
thousand,  increasing  to  19.4  per  thousand  in  families  oc- 
cupying three  or  four  rooms,  and  reaching  the  compara- 
tively high  rate  of  28  per  thousand  among  families  housed 
in  two  rooms. 

It  is  a  much  mooted  point  as  to  whether  tuberculosis  is 
more  often  acquired  by  inhalation  or  by  ingestion.  It  is 
agreed,  however,  that  the  majority  of  cases  contract  the 


126  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

disease  through  intimate  contact  with  the  sick.  The  dan- 
ger of  congested  living  quarters  is  therefore  self-evident. 
Ventilation,  aside  from  preventing  the  debilitating  effects 
of  a  vitiated  atmosphere,  exerts  a  directly  unfavorable  in- 
fluence on  tuberculosis  spread  by  the  mere  dilution  of  the 
bacterial  laden  room  atmosphere. 

Sunlight  is  another  element  antagonistic  to  the  tubercle 
bacillus,  and  well-lighted  rooms  are  much  less  favorable  to 
the  dissemination  of  tuberculosis  than  are  dark  ones. 
Ample  window  space  is  essential  in  the  construction  of  tene- 
ment houses. 

The  South  may  be  especially  free  from  slums,  but  the 
tenements  for  colored  people  so  commonly  found  in  this  sec- 
tion are  sadly  defective  in  sanitary  arrangement.  In  1912 
the  tuberculosis  death  rate  among  the  colored  population  of 
New  Orleans  was  approximately  three  times  that  of  the 
white.  The  ratio  of  total  deaths  between  the  white  and 
colored  was  somewhat  less  than  two  to  one,  so  it  can  be 
seen  that  the  tuberculosis  rate  among  the  colored  race  was 
out  of  proportion  to  the  gross  mortality.  It  is  significant 
that  for  a  number  of  years  before  emancipation  the  mor- 
tality of  the  whites  in  New  Orleans  was  greater  than  that 
of  the  colored  race.  Many  factors  have  operated  toward  this 
change,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  housing  of  the  colored 
population  before  the  war  was  superior  as  a  whole  to  that 
at  present.  A  large  proportion  of  the  colored  people  of 
Southern  cities  live  in  congested,  badly  ventilated,  and 
poorly  lighted  quarters.  Part  of  these  evils  can  be  charged 
to  the  landlord,  part  to  the  tenant.  From  personal  observa- 
tion I  am  satisfied  that  the  greater  mortality  rate  among 
the  colored  people  is  largely  due  to  congestion  of  population 
and  habitational  overcrowding  aside  from  the  lower  stand- 
ard of  living. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  overcrowding  in  theory 
is  simple,  but  in  actual  practice  is  difficult.  Most  cities  have 
regulatory  measures  prescribing  the  minimum  air  space  per 
person  in  tenements;  but  as  the  enforcement  of  such  laws 
would  require  a  large  number  of  inspectors,  they  are  for 
the  most  part  inoperative.     Moreover,  conformity  to  such 


HOUSING  IN  PREVENTING  DISEASE  127 

provisions  in  many  cases  would  result  in  increased  rental 
expenditure  and  curtailment  of  such  living  necessities  as 
food  and  clothes.  Overcrowding,  so  far  as  air  space  is  con- 
cerned, is  after  all  a  relative  state,  and  can  be  corrected  by 
compensatory  ventilation.  The  requirement  of  ample  win- 
dow space  and  an  adequate  ventilation  system  for  tene- 
ments would  place  the  charge  where  it  could  be  best  borne — 
i.  e.,  on  the  owner — and  after  the  initial  cost  the  overhead 
charge  for  maintenance  of  such  improvements  would  be 
comparatively  small. 

In  all  fairness  to  the  subject,  therefore,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  solution  of  the  tuberculosis  problem  pri- 
marily lies  not  so  much  in  housing  reforms  as  in  the  cor- 
rection of  economic  conditions.  As  long  as  w^e  have  pov- 
erty we  shall  have  tuberculosis.  People  will  be  underfed 
and  ill-nourished,  non-resistant  to  infection,  and  with  lim- 
ited incomes  families  will  perforce  live  in  congested  quar- 
ters, the  individuals  being  in  intimate  contact  one  with 
another,  and  disease  spreads  in  proportion  to  the  intimacy 
of  the  association. 

TYPHOID 

Typhoid  is  always  produced  by  the  ingestion  of  the  ty- 
phoid germs.  Whether  typhoid  be  due  to  drinking  infected 
water  or  to  partaking  of  infected  foodstuff,  we  can  be  sure 
that  the  articles  causing  the  disease  have  been  contaminated 
by  human  waste  matter.  Much  of  the  typhoid  in  this  coun- 
try can  be  attributed  to  polluted  water.  Housing  conditions 
in  such  instances  cannot  be  charged  with  this  method  of 
transference,  unless  the  supply  be  local  and  contaminated 
from  a  defective  latrine. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  typhoid  cases,  however, 
can  be  ascribed  to  fly-borne  infection,  and  housing  condi- 
tions are  largely  responsible  therefor.  The  fly  alone  can  do 
no  harm ;  it  is  only  where  this  insect  has  access  to  typhoid 
excreta  that  it  becomes  a  typhoid  vector,  and  in  this  con- 
nection the  menace  of  unprotected  cesspools  and  vaults  can 
be  appreciated.  Levy  attributed  the  reduction  of  typhoid 
mortality  in  Richmond  within  a  period  of  twenty-six  years 
from   seventy-eight   per   hundred   thousand   to   less   than 


128  DEMOCRACY    IN   EARNEST 

twenty  per  hundred  thousand  for  the  last  six  years  to  the 
measures  enforced  for  the  exclusion  of  flies  from  human 
waste.  The  water  supply  during  this  transition  period  was 
unchanged.  A  material  reduction  in  typhoid  did  not  occur 
in  New  Orleans  till  some  three  years  after  the  installation 
of  the  purification  plant,  so  it  would  not  seem  that  the 
water  supply  was  much  of  a  factor  in  the  typhoid  rate  of 
New  Orleans.  This  assumption  is  further  emphasized  by 
the  seasonal  variation  of  the  disease;  the  summer  months, 
July,  August,  and  September,  being  the  period  of  greatest 
typhoid  prevalence.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  sev- 
eral thousand  old-fashioned  vault  toilets  in  New  Orleans  are 
responsible  for  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  city's  ty- 
phoid ;  and  I  dare  say  the  same  is  true  in  many  other  South- 
ern communities.  The  cesspool  is  an  insanitary  nuisance 
that  should  not  exist  where  sewerage  connection  is  possible. 
The  vault  toilet  possesses  the  same  potentiality  in  the 
production  of  other  fly-borne  gastrointestinal  disease  as  it 
does  in  typhoid  causation. 

MALARIA,   YELLOW  FEVER,   AND  DENGUE 

Malaria,  yellow  fever,  and  dengue,  all  of  which  are  mos- 
quito-borne diseases,  may  be  materially  reduced  or  even 
prevented  by  the  proper  screening  of  houses.  While  mos- 
quito destruction  is  the  more  logical  procedure  in  malaria 
or  yellow  fever  prevention,  such  measure  is  not  always 
practical. 

House-screening  is  comparatively  easy  of  accomplish- 
ment, and  no  habitation  in  a  yellow  fever  infected  com- 
munity or  in  a  malarial  district  should  be  unscreened. 

Whether  the  owner  or  tenant  should  provide  screening 
is  an  economic  detail  not  so  simple  in  settlement.  In  addi- 
tion to  excluding  mosquitoes  from  the  house,  much  can  be 
done  toward  prevention  of  mosquito-breeding  within  the 
premises.  In  many  instances  it  may  be  that  the  mosquitoes 
originate  from  a  source  uncontrolled  by  the  householder, 
but  it  not  infrequently  happens  that  the  inmates  are  trou- 
bled by  "home-raised"  insects.  Pools  of  water  in  house  gut- 
ters, due  to  sagging  or  obstruction  by  dirt,  unprotected 
water  seals,  unscreened  cisterns,  and  water-containing  cans 


HOUSING  IN  PREVENTING  DISEASE  129 

or  broken  bottles  about  the  j^ard  are  favorable  breeding 
places  for  mosquitoes.  These  are  all  defects  that  can  be 
corrected  easily  and  inexpensively. 

BUBONIC  PLAGUE 

There  is  no  disease  whose  dissemination  is  so  absolutely 
dependent  upon  defective  housing  conditions  as  bubonic 
plague.  This  is  a  disease  that  can  be  effectually  controlled 
by  the  application  of  certain  principles  of  construction. 

Doubtless  bubonic  plague  is  merely  of  academic  inter- 
est to  most  of  this  assemblage.  So  it  was  to  New  Orleans 
a  few  years  ago!  And  yet  during  the  very  recent  past 
there  has  been  carried  on  in  this  city  a  sanitary  cam- 
paign for  the  eradication  of  the  infection  that,  for  effort 
and  money  expended,  cooperation  obtained  from  citizens, 
and  results  secured,  has  been  unsurpassed  in  modern  sani- 
tation. 

Plague  has  thus  far  made  its  appearance  in  three  Amer- 
ican cities,  and  no  port  of  this  country  should  consider  itself 
immune  from  an  invasion  of  the  disease. 

The  infection  is  essentially  one  of  rodents,  more  par- 
ticularly the  semi-domesticated  rat.  If  an  infected  rat  dies 
beneath  the  floor  or  within  the  walls,  ceiling,  or  other  in- 
closed spaces  of  the  habitation,  office,  or  working  place,  the 
chances  are  that  the  infected  fleas,  leaving  the  carcass  of  its 
former  rodent  host,  will  attack  the  human  inmates.  It  is 
thus  the  disease  is  most  often  transmitted  to  man. 

APPLICATION  OF  CORRECTIVE  MEASURES 

In  the  various  diseases  just  referred  to,  the  direct  ex- 
citing cause  is  well  known,  and  for  the  most  part  the  pre- 
disposing factors  are  also  well  understood.  The  immediate 
necessity  therefore  lies  not  in  the  acquisition  of  more 
knowledge,  but  in  the  application  of  what  we  have.  As 
Freeman  succinctly  expresses  it:  "The  great  need  of  sani- 
tation in  the  United  States  at  this  time  is  neither  agitation 
nor  investigation.  It  is  a  need  for  organization  and  admin- 
istration." 

Public  health  officers  are  somewhat  divided  in  opinion 
as  to  the  most  successful  means  of  securing  sanitary  re- 
9 


130  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

forms,  some  advocating  the  strict  enforcement  of  rational, 
well-prepared  laws,  others  placing  greater  reliance  on  edu- 
cation of  the  people  with  the  expectation  of  securing  sani- 
tation improvements  chiefly  through  the  voluntary  response 
of  the  public.  Because  of  the  inadequate  funds  furnished 
to  most  of  the  health  departments  in  the  country,  sanita- 
tion by  education  is  necessarily  the  more  popular  procedure. 

Personally,  I  believe  in  the  impartial  and  energetic  en- 
forcement of  rational,  practical  regulatory  measures.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  no  law  can  be  successfully  operated 
unless  it  has  the  approval  of  the  majority  of  the  people, 
and  it  is  their  right  to  be  fully  acquainted  with  the  necessity 
for  and  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  any  such  law. 

Education  may  overcome  active  opposition,  but  it  gen- 
erally fails  to  influence  apathy.  It  is  in  the  apathy  of  the 
public,  and  not  in  actual  antagonism,  that  sanitary  reforms 
encounter  obstacles.  In  emphasizing  the  importance  of  ad- 
ministrative enforcement  it  is  not  intended  to  depreciate 
the  value  of  education,  for  popular  misconceptions  are  com- 
mon in  the  field  of  preventive  medicine. 

There  is  a  general  tendency  among  the  laity  to  confuse 
the  sanitary  with  the  aesthetic  and  to  put  false  values  on 
non-essentials,  ofttimes  disregarding  serious  conditions, 
and  as  a  result  the  health  officer  is  frequently  presented 
with  complaints  that  more  properly  belong  to  the  function 
of  other  departments.  The  abatement  of  objectionable 
odors,  the  treatment  of  unsightly  buildings,  or  the  elimina- 
tion of  many  similar  conditions  that  merely  off'end  the  sense 
of  decency,  but  are  not  insanitary,  should  no  more  pertain 
to  the  function  of  the  health  officer  than  the  prevention  of 
the  annoyance  of  crowing  roosters,  barking  dogs,  and  cry- 
ing babies,  and  yet  these  are  all  complaints  that  frequently 
are  referred  to  an  already  overtaxed  health  department. 

It  is  important  that  a  true  knowledge  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene  be  spread  broadcast,  but  when  this  is  accomplished 
the  health  officer's  task  has  not  ended — in  fact,  it  has  just 
begun. 

Consider  the  reduction  in  mortality  of  recent  years  in 
this  and  other  countries  and  how  it  has  been  accomplished. 


HOUSING  IN  PREVENTING  DISEASE  131 

The  most  notable  reduction  in  morbidity  of  any  one  group 
of  diseases  in  this  country  has  been  in  typhoid  and  gastro- 
intestinal diseases,  typhoid  prevalence  having  been  reduced 
some  fifty  per  cent  within  the  last  twenty  years. 

Has  this  in  any  way  been  influenced  by  the  individual 
citizen?  Hardly.  It  has  been  due  almost  entirely  to  the 
installation  of  water  purification  plants,  proper  sewage  dis- 
posal, and  the  examination  and  control  of  milk  supplies,  all 
representing  the  activities  of  a  comparatively  small  group 
of  public  officials. 

For  instance,  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war  Germany, 
where  compulsory  vaccination  prevailed,  lost  only  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-seven  men  from  smallpox,  while  France 
lost  twenty  thousand  men  from  the  same  disease  in  an 
unvaccinated  army. 

The  achievements  of  the  American  Government  in  the 
sanitation  of  Panama,  the  Philippines,  Porto  Rico,  and 
Cuba  are  also  illustrative  of  results  obtained  when  people 
are  forced  to  comply  with  sanitary  laws  instead  of  being 
left  to  their  own  devices,  or,  what  is  but  little  better,  to  re- 
spond or  not  as  they  please  to  suggestions  for  their  sanitary 
betterment.  The  successes  of  the  past  in  the  sanitation  of 
this  and  other  countries  have  been  directly  proportionate 
to  the  magnitude  and  efficiency  of  sanitary  organization 
and  administration.  This  all  applies  to  the  securement  of 
housing  corrections,  more  especially  to,  tenement  houses. 

The  first  need  is  for  rational  regulatory  measures,  prac- 
tical of  application.  Having  secured  the  laws,  the  health 
officer  must  have  adequate  funds  to  secure  enforcement  by 
the  maintenance  of  an  efficient  force  of  qualified  inspectors. 

Veiller,  Secretary  of  the  National  Housing  Association, 
very  severely  arraigns  the  method  of  housing  inspection  in 
this  country,  and  says  that  practically  no  American  city  has 
developed  a  system  of  insDection  worthy  of  the  name  that 
for  the  most  part  corrections  of  unsanitary  conditions  are 
chiefly  dependent  upon  "citizens'  complaints,"  obviously  a 
haphazard  procedure. 

It  should  be  clearly  understood,  however,  that  the  ad- 
ministrative defect,  in  most  instances,  is  primarily  caused 
by  the  failure  of  the  city,  county,  or  State,  as  the  case  may 


132  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

be,  to  provide  the  health  department  with  sufficient  funds 
for  the  maintenance  of  an  adequate  organization. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  while  the  death  rate  of 
both  the  white  and  colored  population  of  the  South  has 
shown  a  very  material  decline  in  recent  years,  there  is 
still  room  for  improvement;  and  the  correction  of  some  of 
the  housing  evils,  especially  as  they  exist  in  tenements,  will 
materially  aid  in  the  reduction  of  the  gross  mortality.  The 
prospect  for  this  reform  is  by  no  means  discouraging,  for  in 
no  section  of  the  nation  are  people  more  alive  to  the  benefits 
of  sanitation  or  more  responsive  to  the  demands  of  the 
health  officer  than  in  the  South. 


PROTECTION  AGAINST  BAD  AIR 

CHARLES  SAVILLE,  DIRECTOR  OP  SANITATION,  DALLAS,  TEX. 

Air  performs  the  varied  functions  of  supplying  life- 
giving  oxygen  to  the  lungs  and  warmth  or  coolness  to  the 
body;  of  receiving  the  discharges  from  the  lungs,  throat, 
and  nose,  and  the  evaporation  from  the  body  pores;  and 
of  receiving  also  the  dirty  smoke  and  foul  vapors  from  in- 
dustrial establishments  and  the  dust  from  unclean  streets. 
Air  which  has  been  breathed  contains,  according  to  Rose- 
nau,  one-fifth  less  oxygen  and  about  one  hundred  and  forty 
times  more  carbon  dioxide  gas  than  before  breathing.  The 
expired  air  is  also  warmer,  is  increased  in  volume,  and  con- 
tains more  moisture,  but  fewer  particles  such  as  dust  and 
bacteria. 

It  is  now  generally  agreed  that  an  abundant  supply  of 
fresh  air,  well  conditioned,  is  one  of  the  real  essential.;;  for 
health  and  maximum  efficiency.  Furthermore,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  combustion  of  the  food  we  eat  depends 
upon  the  oxygen  of  the  air  we  breathe,  and  that  digestion 
and  body-building  are  stimulated  and  improved  by  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  fresh  air,  or  rendered  sluggish  and  retarded 
by  prolonged  exposure  to  vitiated  air.  While  recent  studies 
have  shown  that  air  need  not  be  feared  as  a  frequent  me- 


PROTECTION  AGAINST  BAD  AIR  133 

dium  of  conveying  specific  infections,  careful  investigations 
seem  to  prove  that  air  impurities  are  among  the  most  im- 
portant predisposing  causes  of  sickness.  This  has  been 
frequently  demonstrated  in  the  case  of  animals,  as  well  as 
in  men  confined  in  badly  ventilated  barracks,  jails,  and 
other  places. 

In  this  connection  it  should  also  be  understood  that  air 
purity  is  closely  allied  with  air  temperature  in  so  far  as 
its  effect  on  people  is  concerned,  and  that  both  subjects 
ought  to  be  considered  together.  In  a  cold  room,  for  ex- 
ample, a  person  radiates  the  heat  produced  by  oxidation  of 
his  cell  tissues,  thus  lowering  his  vital  energy  and  his  pow- 
er to  resist  infection.  The  main  object  of  heating,  or  cool- 
ing, is  to  keep  people  comfortable  and  to  maintain  their 
vital  energies  and  their  resistive  power  at  a  maximum. 

HOW   AIR   BECOMES   INJURIOUS 

Air  may  become  injurious  as  a  result  of  being  breathed 
over  and  over  again.  During  this  process  there  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  gradual  reduction  in  the  oxygen  content,  a 
marked  increase  in  the  amount  of  carbon  dioxide  gas  pres- 
ent, and  a  slight  increase  in  the  temperature  and  the  mois- 
ture content.  This  occurs  every  day  wherever  people  are 
gathered  in  closed  or  poorly  ventilated  rooms,  especially  in 
places  where  the  rooms  are  lighted  or  heated  by  open  gas 
jets.  An  ordinary  gas  light  jet  produces  three  times  as 
much  carbon  dioxide  gas  as  the  breathing  of  one  man. 

Carbon  dioxide  has,  in  the  past,  been  adopted  as  the 
most  convenient  index  of  the  total  air  conditions  preju- 
dicial to  health  and  comfort.  However,  it  is  not  in  itself 
irritating  or  poisonous  even  in  the  amounts  present  in  the 
most  poorly  ventilated  rooms.  Determinations  of  its  pres- 
ence in  the  air  of  a  room  should  therefore  not  be  looked 
upon  as  the  sole  measure  of  its  condition  for  respiration, 
because  it  gives  no  indication  of  the  moisture,  temperature, 
or  motion  of  the  air,  all  of  which  are  now  known  to  be 
factors  of  the  greatest  importance. 

In  some  factories  air  acquires  very  injurious  qualities 
in  the  form  of  noxious  fumes  which  are  actually  poisonous 


134  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

in  their  effect  on  the  human  body,  and  in  the  form  of  smoke 
and  dust  which  if  breathed  steadily  in  any  quantity  irritate 
the  respiratory  organs  and  lower  the  vitality.  The  studies 
which  have  been  made  of  the  effects  due  to  the  chemical 
constituents  of  air  fail  to  show  any  possible  injury.  Dust 
in  the  air  may  come  from  some  special  manufacturing  pro- 
cess, in  which  case  it  affects  principally  the  employees  of 
a  sincfle  factory  and  can  often  be  cared  for  by  installing 
proper  ventilating  hoods  and  discharge  ducts.  It  may  come 
from  unclean  streets,  in  which  case  the  responsibility  and 
the  solution  are  with  the  municipality ;  or  it  may  come  from 
poorly  cleaned  floors  in  school  buildings,  and  may  constitute 
a  serious  menace  to  the  health  of  large  numbers  of  children. 

Aside  from  these  special  problems  presented  by  fumes, 
smoke,  odors,  and  dust,  the  most  injurious  quality  of  the 
air  in  confined  spaces  is  overheating,  particularly  when 
combined  with  excessive  moisture.  Mr.  C.  E.  A.  Winslow, 
Professor  of  Public  Health  at  Yale  University,  says :  "Any 
temperature  over  70  degrees  Fahrenheit  puts  a  strain  on 
the  heat-regulating  mechanism  of  the  body,  keeps  the  blood 
in  the  skin  away  from  the  vital  organs,  and  produces  far- 
reaching  impairments  of  the  nervous  system,  the  digestive 
system,  and  the  body  as  a  whole.  This  general  effect  of 
heat  and  humidity  is  familiar  to  every  one  who  contrasts 
his  own  ability  to  do  either  brain  work  or  muscular  work 
in  the  hot  muggy  days  of  August  and  in  brisk  autumn 
weather."  It  is  beyond  question  that  the  workers  in  a 
factory  where  the  temperature  is  over  seventy  degrees  are 
injured  by  a  lowering  of  their  vitality  which  may  lead  to 
their  succumbing  to  tuberculosis  and  other  serious  diseases, 
and  that  they  are  working  below  their  normal  standard  of 
efficiency,  so  that  both  they  and  their  employers  are  the 
losers. 

Dr.  Helen  C.  Putnam  reported  several  years  ago  that  in 
six  hundred  schoolrooms  she  had  visited  in  various  cities 
she  found  only  two  hundred  thermometers,  one-third  of 
which  were  out  of  order.  Of  the  other  two-thirds,  only 
twenty  registered  below  seventy-two  degrees  Fahrenheit, 
the  rest  ranging  from  seventy-two  to  eighty-five  degrees, 


PROTECTION  AGAINST  BAD  AIR  135 

this  being  during  the  winter  months.  Referring  to  this 
investigation,  Professor  Winslow  says :  "It  may  he  seriously 
questioned  whether  the  schooling  of  the  children  in  these 
rooms  teas  not  too  dearly  bought  at  the  expense  of  the 
physical  harm  they  suffered." 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  the  question  of 
injurious  air  is  largely  one  of  degree,  and  that  distinction 
should  be  made  between  the  unavoidable  and  the  avoidable 
injurious  qualities  of  air. 

NECESSITY  OF  PROTECTION  FOR  THE  PUBLIC 

The  present  rapid  growth  and  congestion  of  population, 
accompanied  by  the  increasing  present-day  tendency  for 
people  to  herd  together  in  crowds  while  at  work  and  during 
their  hours  of  recreation,  has  already  brought  about  con- 
ditions in  our  modern  communities  which  are  a  real  menace 
to  the  health  of  the  people  and  which  render  necessary  at 
least  some  form  of  legislative  control. 

In  earlier  days  practically  everything  eaten  or  worn  was 
made  in  the  home  under  more  or  less  ideal  sanitary  condi- 
tions, and  the  clothes  were  washed  out  in  the  yard  in  the 
open  air.  But  at  the  present  time  our  clothes  are  manufac- 
tured for  us  in  factories,  our  washing  is  done  in  steam 
laundries,  and  some  of  our  cooking  in  bakeries  and  restau- 
rants. A  large  part  of  the  population  spend  eight  to  twelve 
hours  a  day  crowded  into  office  buildings  or  industrial 
plants.  They  travel  to  and  from  work  in  crowded,  ill- 
ventilated  street  cars  and  spend  their  evenings  in  stuffy  the- 
aters, moving  picture  shows,  and  public  dance  halls.  And 
while  buildings  were  formerly  heated  by  open  fireplaces 
we  are  now  using  gas  or  steam  or  electricity.  In  this  con- 
nection it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  population  of  the 
State  of  Texas  grew  from  213,000  in  1850  to  about  4,500,- 
000  in  1914,  and  is  now  increasing  at  the  rate  of  more  than 
50,000  persons  a  year.  More  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
the  population  are  living  in  cities  and  towns.  There  are 
5,000  factories  of  various  sorts  now  operating  in  the  State, 
while  each  year  about  300  new  plants  are  being  built.  In 
New  York  State,  with  its  larger  number  of  factories,  in- 


136  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

vestigation  has  shown  that  in  1914  over  70  per  cent  of  the 
workrooms  had  temperatures  of  73  degrees  or  over,  and  29 
per  cent  of  these  had  temperatures  of  80  degrees  or  over, 
when  the  outdoor  temperature  was  70  degrees  or  less.  In 
some  weaving  rooms  the  average  temperature  was  found  to 
average  continually  more  than  10  degrees  above  the  air  out- 
side. There  is  no  doubt  that  such  conditions  directly  injure 
the  health  of  the  workers  and  impair  the  efficiency  of  the 
industry. 

The  necessity  for  protecting  the  public  against  injuri- 
ous air  as  outlined  in  the  foregoing  is  increased  by  the  fact 
that  the  great  masses  of  the  people  who  suffer  from  its  ill 
effects  do  not  realize  it,  and  because  they  usually  do  not 
have  directly  in  their  hands  the  power  to  improve  the  unde- 
sirable and  unhealthful  conditions.  And  furthermore  the 
remedy  for  these  conditions  often  involves  expenditures 
which  would  reduce  the  profits  of  the  business,  whatever 
it  may  be.  It  is  difficult,  for  example,  for  the  employees  in 
a  steam  laundry  or  a  cotton  mill  to  dictate  to  the  manager 
regarding  the  installation  of  an  improved  system  of  ven- 
tilation. And  there  are  still  many  employers  so  selfish,  so 
ignorant,  and  so  unhumanitarian  that  they  fail  to  realize 
the  important  truth  that  their  own  best  interests  are  abso- 
lutely tied  up  with  the  health  and  comfort  and  welfare  of 
their  employees.  It  often  happens,  also,  that  the  parties 
most  responsible  for  air  pollution  are  the  ones  who  would 
be  least  benefited  by  preventing  it.  This  is  the  case  where 
the  vent  pipe  from  a  bakery  discharges  into  a  small  court- 
yard surrounded  by  high  office  buildings.  It  is  likewise 
the  case  where  black,  soot;^  smoke  from  a  power  plant 
enters  the  open  windows  of  a  department  store  and  settles 
on  their  valuable  silks  and  linens. 

A  question  of  importance  that  should  not  be  lost  sight 
of  in  considering  the  matter  of  air  pollution  is  that  it  is 
much  simpler  and  less  expensive  to  prevent  the  pollution 
than  it  is  to  correct  it,  and  to  repair  the  damages  resulting. 
This  work  of  prevention,  and  the  corrective  work  as  well, 
should  be  under  the  supervision  of  a  competent  non-parti- 
san central  authority  provided  with  full  power  to  regulate 


PROTECTION  AGAINST  BAD  AIR  137 

all  questions  of  ventilation,  and  to  give  adequate  protection 
to  the  public. 

HOW  TO  PREVENT  AIR  FROM  BECOMING  INJURIOUS 

In  order  to  prevent  air  from  becoming-  injurious  it  is 
necessary  first  of  all  to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  its  con- 
dition. Every  schoolroom  and  public  gathering  place  should 
have  at  least  one  good  thermometer  which  should  be 
standardized  and  compared  at  intervals  with  an  accurate 
instrument  and  be  maintained  in  good  working  order.  The 
humidity  can  be  best  determined  by  a  wet  and  dry  bulb 
thermometer  of  the  Sling  psychrometer  type  used  by  the 
United  States  Weather  Bureau.  Systematic  determinations 
of  the  temperature  and  the  humidity  should  be  made  at 
regular  intervals  before  and  during  the  hours  of  occupation. 
For  best  results  the  temperature  should  be  maintained  be- 
tween 67  and  70  degrees  Fahrenheit  with  a  relative  hu- 
midity of  betvv^een  60  and  70  per  cent.  The  most  practical 
method  of  preventing  overheating  of  air  in  schoolroms  and 
factories  is  by  air  change,  or  ventilation  so-called,  which 
provides  for  the  removal  of  the  heated  air  and  its  replace- 
ment by  cooler  air  which  should  first  have  its  temperature 
raised  to  a  point  (between  60°  and  65°  F.)  somewhat  below 
that  which  is  normally  felt  to  be  comfortable.  The  majority 
of  the  numerous  systems  of  heating  and  ventilation  can  be 
made  to  meet  these  requirements  ivith  careful  iiianagenient. 
But  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  in  most  places  this  care- 
ful management  which  is  so  essential  to  good  results  is  sadly 
lacking.  One  of  the  principal  troubles  with  most  systems 
of  heating  and  ventilation  is  not  the  system  but  the  janitor. 
And  this  difficulty  is  not  likely  to  be  overcome  till  jaintors 
are  required  to  have  a  somewhat  higher  degree  of  intelli- 
gence than  is  often  the  case,  and  until  they  are  kept  steadily 
at  their  job   like  the  operator  of  a  water  purification  plant. 

In  addition  to  the  temperature  and  humidity,  determi- 
nations should  also  be  made  of  the  quantity  of  dust  and 
carbon  dioxide  gas  present  in  the  air,  the  former  being  an 
index  of  the  cleanliness  of  the  room  and  its  surroundings, 
and  the  latter  an  index  of  the  air  change.    If  the  dust  con- 


138  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

tent  is  kept  below  50  milligrams  per  1,000  cubic  feet  of  air, 
and  the  amount  of  carbon  dioxide  less  than  0.12  per  cent, 
the  air  is  not  likely  to  have  an  injurious  effect  on  the  people 
breathing  it.  The  maximum  carbon  dioxide  content  sug- 
gested will  not  be  exceeded  if  the  air  is  changed  at  least 
once  an  hour,  which  is  a  wholly  reasonable  requirement; 
but  chief  emphasis,  as  already  explained,  should  be  laid  not 
on  the  quantity  of  the  air  but  on  its  physical  condition.  In 
schoolrooms  where  there  is  much  going  to  and  fro  by  large 
numbers  of  children,  the  very  greatest  care  should  be  taken 
to  keep  the  floors  and  hallways  clean  and  free  from  dust- 
forming  materials  which  would  be  easily  stirred  up  by 
the  frequent  movements  of  the  children.  It  should  be  real- 
ized also  that  the  gradual  air  change  accomplished  by  ven- 
tilation should  be  supplemented  at  regular  intervals — say, 
once  every  two  hours — by  opening  the  windows  for  a  few 
minutes  and  causing  a  complete  flushing  out  of  the  room 
with  vigorous  drafts  of  fresh  cool  air. 

METHODS  OF  SUPERVISION 

Unfortunately  there  are  as  yet  very  few  official  bodies 
in  this  country  who  are  successfully  supervising  and  regu- 
lating the  quality  of  the  air  supply  in  public  places.  And 
the  New  York  State  Department  of  Labor  is  said  to  be  the 
only  one  which  makes  regular  examinations  of  factory  air 
and  publishes  the  results.  Some  of  the  sanitary  codes  of 
States  and  municipalities  contain  references  here  and  there 
to  the  hygienic  and  sanitary  aspects  of  poor  ventilation,  but 
there  is  little  systematic  attempt  to  enforce  the  laws. 

There  is  nevertheless  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  im- 
portance of  establishing  rational  ventilation  standards 
which  has  recently  resulted  in  a  large  amount  of  research 
work  on  the  part  of  individuals,  associations,  and  special 
governmental  commissions. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  line  of 
action  being  followed  by  the  State  of  Wisconsin  with  regard 
to  ventilation  standards  for  factories.  In  view  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  formulating  legal  ventilation  standards  for  the 
widely  varying  factory  conditions,  an  industrial  commis- 


THE  PREVENTION  OF  BLINDNESS  139 

sion  was  created  with  power  to  fix  specific  standards  whose 
reasonableness  can  be  questioned  only  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State.  The  regulations  of  such  a  commission 
can  be  made  responsive  to  the  varied  and  changing  condi- 
tions of  any  particular  industry  and  offer  a  promising 
method  of  securing  protection  for  the  worker  with  a  mini- 
mum of  burden  on  the  business;  but  all  such  regulations 
should  be  based  on  and  checked  up  by  a  careful,  thorough 
study  of  the  factory  conditions  by  properly  qualified  ex- 
perts. Unfortunately  there  are  at  the  present  time  in  the 
whole  United  States  not  more  than  one  or  two  chemists  or 
engineers  regularly  employed  by  any  State  to  study  factory 
air  conditions. 


THE  PREVENTION  OF  BLINDNESS 

HON.  JOHN  E.  RAY,  NORTH  CAROLINA  INSTITUTE  FOR  THE 
BLIND,  RALEIGH,  N.  C. 

There  are  two  questions  naturally  arising  in  our  minds 
in  connection  with  this  subject:  (1)  Can  blindness  be  pre- 
vented? and  (2)  Are  there  enough  cases  of  blindness  to 
justify  an  effort  to  prevent  it?  Applying  the  old  proverb, 
"An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure,"  we  find 
ourselves  in  line  with  the  efforts  of  the  specialists  of  our 
day  in  emphasizing  prevention.  This  is  the  slogan  of  the 
age.  We  all  know  that  it  is  much  more  easy  to  prevent 
a  malady  than  to  cure  it.  One  of  the  encouraging  phases 
of  the  times  is  the  earnestness  with  which  our  scientists  are 
working  at  the  problems  of  prevention.  We  see  the  results 
in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria,  typhoid,  smallpox,  malaria, 
yellow  fever,  and  other  heinous  maladies  to  which  humanity 
is  subject. 

But  let  us  reverse  the  order  of  approach.  When  we 
hear  of  the  destruction  of  an  Iroquois  Theater,  with  its 
deathly  results;  or  the  sinking  of  the  Titanic,  the  greatest 
ocean  disaster  of  its  kind,  or  the  fearful  toll  exacted  by 
some  scourge  yellow  fever,  or  the  destruction  caused  by 


140  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

some  great  conflagration,  we  stand  appalled  and  are  heart- 
sick. These  are  sudden  catastrophes  and  we  are  aghast  at 
their  seriousness.  And  we  wonder  if  something  could  not 
have  been  done  to  prevent  it  all ;  and  we  think,  if  we  don't 
ask,  "Why  was  greater  wisdom  not  displayed,  why  was 
proper  precaution  not  taken,  why  was  not  something  done 
to  prevent  it?" 

These  disasters,  great  as  they  are,  pale  into  insignifi- 
cance when  we  consider  the  distressing  condition  to  be 
found  in  every  section  of  the  land.  There  are  approxi- 
mately 100,000  blind  men,  women,  and  children  in  the 
United  States,  a  number  much  greater  than  our  standing 
army!  Some  one  who  has  spent  much  of  a  useful  life  in 
the  study  of  the  problem  before  us  has  said  that  fiftij  per 
cent  of  all  blindness  is  preventable. 

When  blindness  is  once  established  it  is  incurable.  This 
is  the  pathetic  side.  Just  to  think  of  100,000  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  doomed  to  a  life  of  utter  darkness,  with  no  hope  of 
relief  and  with  only  one  avenue  to  even  partial  self-support 
— an  education !  And  even  in  their  efforts  toward  independ- 
ence, so  handicapped  are  they  as  to  make  the  battle  very 
uneven,  if  not  impracticable !  Is  it  not  pathetic  ?  Nay,  is  it 
not  criminal?  And  these  figures  do  not  include  the  great 
epidemics  of  trachoma  which  have  recently  been  discovered 
in  Kentucky,  Virginia,  Oklahoma,  Ohio,  and  some  other 
States.  There  are  said  to  be  thirty-three  thousand  cases 
of  trachoma  in  twenty-five  of  the  counties  of  Kentucky 
alone.  These  figures  will  swell  the  total  of  blindness  to 
nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand!  And  this  number 
will  rapidly  increase  unless  preventive  measures  are 
promptly  employed.  Dr.  Murphy,  of  the  Indian  Service, 
estimates  that  twenty  per  cent  of  the  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  American  Indians  are  afflicted  with 
the  disease. 

Dr.  John  McMullen,  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Pub- 
lic Health,  says  of  trachoma :  "The  most  humiliating,  pa- 
thetic, and  tragic  part  of  this  disease  is  that  it  does  not 
destroy  life,  but  if  it  is  not  eradicated  or  arrested  the  pa- 
tient continues  to  live  in  his  misery,  with  either  impaired 


THE  PREVENTION  OF  BLINDNESS  141 

or  destroyed  vision,  a  burden  and  a  menace  to  his  family 
and  the  community,  and  often  at  last  to  the  State." 

Can  blindness  be  prevented?  Can  nothing  be  done  to 
prevent  this  direful  condition?  Can  no  preventive  be  dis- 
covered to  lessen  the  suffering,  the  inefficiency,  the  poverty 
of  this  appalling  number  of  our  fellows?  This  leads  to  an- 
other question:  What  are  the  principal  causes  of  blind- 
ness? The  records  indicate  several,  including  scarlet  fever, 
diphtheria,  whooping  cough  and  measles,  but  by  far  the 
greater  number  become  blind  from  accident,  trachoma,  and 
ophth'almia  neonatorum.  These,  however,  are  by  no  means 
the  only  causes  of  blindness.  Poorly  lighted  schoolrooms 
come  in  for  their  share  of  blame,  and  an  eminent  school- 
master has  said  that  "more  eyes  are  harmed  in  the  home 
than  in  the  school."  In  manufacturing  centers  wood  alcohol 
comes  in  for  its  amount  of  consideration.  Even  the  fumes 
of  this  chemical  have  been  known  to  produce  blindness,  and 
if  it  is  imbibed  it  produces  blindness  and  sometimes  death. 

Dr.  DeSchweinitz,  in  a  recent  paper  read  before  the  Na- 
tional Committee  for  the  Prevention  of  Blindness,  tells  of 
a  girl  who  was  straining  her  eyes  in  an  effort  to  thread  a 
needle  and  of  three  children  who  could  not  see  well  enough 
to  engage  in  a  certain  game,  and  pertinently  asks :  "Shall 
Elsa  be  allowed  to  trifle  with  her  most  precious  possession? 
Shall  pur  homes  be  permitted  to  disregard  the  laws  of  visual 
hygiene?  Shall  children,  and  those  children  of  the  larger 
growth — men  and  women — remain  on  the  side  lines  because 
they  cannot  see  well  enough  to  play  that  game  of  stirring 
life  with  its  joy  of  untrammeled  effort?  Shall  we  not  have 
a  game  which  they  can  play  ?  Shall  we  of  these  better  walks 
of  life  pursue  our  ways  in  smug  contentment,  and  permit 
the  preventable  causes  of  blindness  to  continue  their  black 
business  and  ever  add  to  the  toll  of  their  victims?  But  the 
matter  does  not  end  here.  There  remains  the  great  group, 
excluded  from  the  blind  population  by  strict  definition,  but 
excluded,  too,  in  large  measure,  from  the  ordinary  avoca- 
tions of  life  whereby  bread  is  won,  the  'partially  blind.' 
They  are  not  at  home  in  the  world  of  those  who  have  sight, 


142  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

or  in  that  of  those  who  are  blind.  They  dwell  in  the  border- 
land.   They  sit  on  the  side  lines." 

Of  the  one  hundred  thousand  blind  persons  in  our  coun- 
try, at  least  fifty  thousand  need  not  have  been  blind  and 
would  not  have  been  if  the  proper  preventives  had  been  em- 
ployed at  the  right  time.  If  parents,  teachers,  nurses,  and 
others  would  keep  from  children  sharp-pointed  objects  and 
explosives,  a  large  number  of  accidents  which  cause  blind- 
ness would  be  averted.  If  those  in  charge  of  children  would 
see  to  it  that  they  are  not  permitted  to  study  or  work  in 
dingy,  half-lighted  rooms,  the  number  would  be  grealjy  re- 
duced. If  physicians,  midwives,  and  nurses  were  always 
careful  to  wash  the  eyes  of  every  newborn  babe  and  admin- 
ister a  suitable  prophylactic  to  both  eyes,  thousands  who  are 
blind  would  have  normal  vision.  If  every  one  interested 
would  see  to  it  that  every  child  with  red,  or  inflamed,  eyes 
were  taken  immediately  to  some  efficient  specialist  for 
treatment,  and  that  all  such  should  be  furnished  with 
individual  towels  and  basins,  the  number  would  still  be 
greatly  reduced.  But  the  matter  should  not  be  allowed  to 
rest  there.  In  every  case  where  defective  vision  is  discov- 
ered the  child  should  receive  the  attention  and  treatment  of 
an  expert.  If  parents  are  not  able  to  pay  for  this  expert  ex- 
amination and  treatment,  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom 
for  the  city,  county,  or  State  authorities  to  meet  the  ex- 
penses, both  on  the  score  of  economy  and  humanity. 

Suitable  and  safe  prophylactics  can  be  had  from  almost 
every  first-class  drug  store  for  a  mere  pittance,  costing  less 
than  ten  cents,  and  requiring  less  than  ten  minutes  for  its 
application.  Is  it  not,  then,  a  crime,  a  serious  impeach- 
ment of  our  humanity,  our  intelligence,  to  permit  such  con- 
ditions to  exist?  Should  not  stringent  laws  be  passed  in 
every  State,  and  rigidly  enforced,  requiring  such  preven- 
tive measures  as  are  indicated?  Should  not  midwives  be 
required  to  be  registered  after  being  trained,  examined,  and 
licensed?  In  some  communities  the  State  or  city  depart- 
ment of  health  has  adopted  rules  regulating  the  practice  of 
midwives,  requiring  them  to  call  in  physicians  in  all  but 
normal  cases.     Prosecutions  have  followed  the  neglect  of 


THE  PREVENTION  OF  BLINDNESS  143 

preventive  laws  in  some  States.  These  have  had  a  very 
salutary  effect.    Let  the  good  work  go  on. 

Another  precaution  should  be  taken  by  those  in  charge 
of  normal  children  in  the  examination  of  their  eyes  at  least 
twice  a  year  by  some  specialist.  Many  a  child  with  weak 
eyes,  or  nearsighted,  would  be  saved  much  pain  and  possible 
blindness.  With  the  use  of  the  Snellen  charts  any  teacher 
can  make  these  tests. 

And  there  is  an  economical  side  to  this  subject.  Statis- 
tics show  that  there  are  approximately  five  thousand  chil- 
dren in  the  sixty-two  public  schools  for  the  blind  in  this 
country.  From  the  same  source,  the  National  Bureau 
of  Education,  we  learn  that  the  average  per  capita  expense 
amounts  to  three  hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  or  one  million 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually!  The  same  num- 
ber of  sighted  children  taught  in  the  public  schools,  at  an 
annual  expense  of  thirty  dollars  per  capita,  would  cost  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  a  direct  loss  of  one 
million  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  annually. 
Multiply  this  amount  by  thirty  years,  about  the  average 
length  of  life,  and  you  have  forty-nine  million  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars!  And  there  are  at  least  two  thousand 
others  who  ought  to  be  in  the  schools  and  are  not. 

Then  if  we  consider  the  loss  entailed  in  the  non-produc- 
tiveness of  the  one  hundred  thousand,  allowing  a  dollar  a 
day  as  a  minimum,  we  have  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
a  day,  or  thirty-one  million  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  Is  it  not  worth  while  to  save  one-half  of  that  enor- 
mous sum  thus  needlessly  expended  and  lost? 

A  HOPEFUL  INDICATION 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  expends  annually 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  devices  to  pre- 
vent accidents  to  its  two  hundred  thousand  employees.  As 
a  consequence  the  proportion  of  accidents  has  been  de- 
creased seventy-five  per  cent.  It  would  require  less  than 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  annually  to  purchase  and  dis- 
tribute a  sufficient  amount  of  nitrate  of  silver  to  protect 
the  eyes  of  every  one  of  the  tivo  million  babies  born  in  the 


144  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

United  States  annually  from  the  possibility  of  the  curse  of 
blindness  from  ophthalmia  neonatorum. 

To  enforce  such  measures,  of  course,  certain  legal  pro- 
visions are  necessary.  The  writer  has  information  that 
thirty  States  require  the  reporting  of  babies'  sore  eyes  to 
a  physician  or  local  health  officer ;  that  the  reporting  law  is 
printed  on  birth  certificates  in  five  States ;  that  births  shall 
be  reported  early  enough  to  be  of  assistance  in  the  preven- 
tion of  blindness  in  four;  that  the  question  as  to  whether 
or  not  a  prophylactic  is  used  in  the  eyes  of  every  baby  as  a 
precaution  against  ophthalmia  neonatorum  is  printed  on 
the  birth  certificates  in  nine ;  that  the  use  of  a  prophylactic 
is  compulsory  in  ten,  and  that  free  prophylactic  outfits  are 
distributed  to  physicians  and  midwives  in  twelve.  And  it  is 
estimated  that  forty  per  cent  of  the  births  in  our  country  are 
attended  by  midwives. 

I  have  recently  read  that  ophthalmia  neonatorum  is  pro- 
duced not  only  by  the  gonococcus,  but  may  result  from  the 
presence  of  pneumonia,  diphtheria,  and  possibly  other 
germs.  Does  not  the  situation  then  call  for  greater  care? 
The  whole  South  seems  to  have  awakened  but  recently  to 
the  seriousness  of  the  danger,  and  steps  for  prevention  are 
being  taken  in  most  of  her  States. 

I  am  aware  that  there  is  a  considerable  divergence  of 
opinion  as  to  whether  consanguineous  marriages  tend  to 
produce  blindness.  I  incline  to  the  belief  that  they  do,  for 
out  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  blind  children  in  the 
North  Carolina  school  two  years  ago  forty-eight  are  the  off- 
spring of  blood  relations. 

The  only  hope  of  salvation  from  the  direful  condition 
is  education  and  eradication.  In  most  cases  where  blind- 
ness is  fully  established  eradiction  is  impracticable,  if  not 
impossible.  Our  only  hope,  then,  is  in  education — education 
of  the  ivhole  people — so  as  to  protect  future  generations 
against  the  curse.  If  this  is  thoroughly  done,  we  shall  save 
many  thousands  of  dollars  to  our  commonwealth ;  and,  what 
is  infinitely  more,  we  shall  bless  and  brighten  many  thou- 
sands of  lives  and  homes. 


TREATMENT  OF  THE   INSANE  145 


TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE  OUTSIDE  OF 
HOSPITALS 

J.  H.  FOX,  M.D.,  STATE  INSANE  HOSPITAL,  JACKSON,  MISS. 

A  WELL-KNOWN  French  alienist,  Dr.  Girard,has  said  that 
"Society  has  not  fulfilled  its  duties  to  the  insane  when  it  has 
helped  them  to  be  provided  for  and  treated  in  asylums  if, 
on  their  discharge,  it  leaves  them  without  support  and  with- 
out resources,  and  exposes  them  to  relapse.  This  is  an  omis- 
sion, not  only  from  a  humanitarian,  but  from  an  economic 
point  of  view."  The  after  care  of  a  person  who  has  once 
suffered  a  mental  breakdown  is  just  as  important  as  the 
care  rendered  to  him  while  he  was  mentally  irresponsible, 
because  if  a  patient  is  allowed  to  return  to  the  same  environ- 
ment and  again  takes  up  life  with  the  same  associations 
which  were  present  when  he  was  first  attacked,  the  pos- 
sibility is  that  all  of  the  time  and  energy  that  has  been  ex- 
pended upon  him  while  in  the  hospital  will  have  been  wasted. 
The  education  of  the  medical  profession  along  lines  of  men- 
tal disease  is  not  as  thorough  as  it  should  be.  Our  medical 
colleges  do  not  pay  enough  attention  to  this  very  important 
branch.  The  average  medical  student  leaves  college  with 
only  a  slight  knowledge  of  nervous  and  mental  diseases. 
Some  may  argue  that  only  a  specialist  has  need  of  such  edu- 
cation, but  it  is  not  so.  If  every  physician  knew  more  of 
the  causes  and  early  symptoms  and  treatment  of  mental  dis- 
ease, many  of  the  acute  and  border  line  cases  could  be 
treated  at  home  and  never  have  to  undergo  the  misfortune 
of  being  committed  to  an  insane  hospital.  Every  hospital 
connected  with  a  medical  college  should  be  equipped  with  a 
clinic  for  instruction  in  mental  diseases.  Another  method 
for  the  education  of  the  medical  profession  is  frequent  visi- 
tation of  the  State  hospitals  and  consultation  with  the  staff 
of  such  institutions.  Closer  relations  with  the  medical  staff 
of  our  hospitals  and  the  general  practitioner  should  be  en- 
couraged. Much  good  can  be  done  by  a  consultation  of  the 
family  physician  and  the  staff  physician  when  a  patient  is 
removed  from  the  institution  on  parole  or  when  recovered 
sufficiently  to  be  discharged.  A  splendid  plan  for  bringing 
10 


146  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

about  a  closer  relation  between  the  hospital  physician  and 
the  general  practitioner  would  be  to  have  the  county  or  dis- 
trict medical  society  meet  at  the  insane  hospital  at  least 
once  a  year,  and  at  this  meeting  a  symposium  on  mental 
diseases  could  be  held,  with  exhibition  of  clinical  cases.  For 
the  education  of  the  public  on  the  care  of  the  insane  at  home 
and  the  ways  to  prevent  insanity,  a  public  lecturer  should 
be  sent  out  by  the  State  board  of  health  or  from  the  staff  of 
the  insane  hospitals.  It  is  just  as  necessary  to  educate  the 
public  along  lines  of  mental  hygiene  as  it  is  to  instruct  them 
on  physical  hygiene. 

In  some  States  the  mental  clinic  has  proved  of  great 
value  in  assisting  in  the  after-care  of  mental  cases  that  have 
been  paroled  or  discharged.  They  have  also  been  of  great 
assistance  to  those  patients  who  can  be  kept  from  such  a 
breakdown. 

One  of  the  greatest  potentialities  for  practical  service  in 
this  work  is  the  social  service  worker.  She  deals  with  men- 
tal diseases  in  three  stages:  (1)  When  the  disease  may  be 
prevented,  (2)  when  it  has  developed,  and  (3)  after  com- 
plete or  partial  recovery  has  taken  place.  Take  a  case 
where  there  are  indications  of  a  mental  breakdown — there 
may  be  something  in  the  daily  life  of  that  individual  that 
is  causing  mental  anguish  and  anxiety,  some  financial  dis- 
tress, some  physical  ailment,  or  some  circumstance  that 
calls  for  guidance  and  advice.  Here  the  social  worker  may 
come  to  the  rescue  and  by  her  trained  knowledge  assist  in 
overcoming  the  difficulty  and  relieve  the  burdened  mind  in 
time  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  unbalanced.  Now  in  a 
case  where  insanity  has  developed,  but  is  not  so  serious  as 
to  require  institutional  treatment,  the  social  worker  can 
again  assist  by  giving  advice  to  the  family  as  to  how  to 
treat  the  patient.  She  may  gain  the  confidence  of  the  pa- 
tient, and  by  listening  to  the  delusions  and  troubled  thoughts 
thereby  allow  the  patient  an  opportunity  to  relieve  his  own 
state  of  mind.  The  social  worker  here  is  in  a  position  to 
reeducate  the  patient,  and  by  mental  suggestion  it  is  pos- 
sible to  bring  about  a  recovery. 

The  third  group,  those  who  have  been  discharged  from 
the  hospital  wholly  or  partially  recovered,  is  the  one  in  which 


TREATMENT  OF  THE   INSANE  147 

the  social  worker  can  be  of  greatest  service.  You  can  readily 
imagine  how  a  patient  must  feel  after  being  discharged  from 
a  place  where  he  has  been  confined  for  many  months  or 
years,  and  is  suddenly  ushered  out  from  behind  four  walls 
into  the  open  world  again.  His  life  in  the  institution  has 
been  a  humdrum  routine,  rising,  eating,  and  retiring  by  the 
sound  of  bells,  looking  upon  the  same  associates  and  scenery 
day  after  day,  and  then  suddenly  being  ushered  out  among 
men  with  so  many  surprises  and  new  impressions.  This 
would  be  very  well  if  it  were  to  continue,  but  on  reaching 
home  again  the  possibility  is  that  the  same  conditions  exist 
that  were  there  prior  to  the  leaving.  The  social  worker 
should  investigate  and  see  if  there  are  conditions  in  this 
home  that  would  have  a  tendency  to  cause  a  relapse,  and  if 
so  to  proceed  to  have  them  changed  if  possible.  The  after- 
care w^orker  should  visit  the  home  after  discharge  and  give 
advice  as  to  the  best  methods  of  removing  obstacles  that 
would  in  any  way  cause  worry  or  distress  to  the  patient.  One 
great  advantage  gained  by  this  after-care  would  be  an  eco- 
nomic one,  and  that  is,  patients  could  be  discharged  from 
State  hospitals  sooner  than  otherwise,  if  they  are  to  have 
the  special  supervision  of  an  expert  and  thereby  earlier 
relieve  the  State  of  the  care. 

A  large  number  of  the  chronic,  homeless  insane  in  our 
State  hospitals  could  be  released  if  homes  could  be  found 
for  them  where  the  families  are  willing  to  bear  with  their 
peculiarities  and  eccentricities.  Here  also  a  social  service 
worker  could  be  of  material  aid.  As  an  illustration.  Miss 
A.  was  confined  in  one  of  our  State  institutions  for  eleven 
years;  when  admitted,  she  was  reported  to  have  been  some- 
what violent,  and  it  was  necessary  to  have  her  confined,  but 
in  the  course  of  years  she  became  more  composed  and  recov- 
ered to  that  extent  that  she  was  no  longer  considered  vio- 
lent, but  unfortunately  her  family  lost  interest  in  her  and 
they  either  died  out  or  moved  from  the  State.  As  a  result 
this  voor  woman  became  a  fixture  in  the  institution.  Al- 
though she  was  not  considered  in  the  class  of  recovered,  she 
improved  to  that  extent  that  she  was  harmless  and  proved 
of  great  assistance  to  the  attendants  in  carrying  on  the 
work  of  the  ward.    During  the  past  year  a  middle-aged  lady 


148  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

was  admitted  to  the  institution  to  be  treated  for  the  mor- 
phine habit.  A  strong-  friendship  sprung  up  between  these 
two  women,  and  when  the  morphine  patient  was  ready  to 
be  discharged  she  offered  to  give  Miss  A.  a  home  and  to  pay 
her  a  small  wage.  After  due  consideration  her  physician 
consented  to  try  the  experiment  and  so  far  it  is  a  success. 
Miss  A.  is  now  happy  in  the  possession  of  a  home  and  the 
State  is  relieved  of  a  parasite.  The  relatives  of  a  paroled 
patient  should  be  instructed  to  attempt  to  change  the  pa- 
tients' channel  of  thought  as  much  as  possible.  By  forming 
good  mental  habits  a  great  stride  is  made  toward  the  re- 
habilitation of  one  who  has  had  a  mental  breakdown.  A 
complete  change  in  activities  is  often  indicated  in  some 
cases.  For  instance,  a  young  lady  had  been  teaching  school 
for  several  years,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  session  broke 
down  and  had  to  be  committed  to  an  institution  for  the  in- 
sane. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  strenuous  mental  strain 
she  labored  under  while  teaching  w^as  a  strong  factor  in  the 
cause  of  her  mind  becoming  unbalanced.  After  a  few 
months  she  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  allowed  to  return 
home  on  parole.  Her  physician  gave  instructions  at  the 
time  she  was  discharged  that  she  must  take  up  some  other 
line  of  endeavor,  and  suggested  that  some  kind  of  outdoor 
activity  be  selected.  Acting  on  this  suggestion,  she  was  per- 
suaded to  take  up  tomato  culture  and  to  establish  a  canning 
club.  The  results  in  this  case  have  been  most  gratifying, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  change  in  work  has  been 
largely  responsible  for  her  continued  good  mental  health. 
A  change  of  residence  in  certain  cases  of  mental  disease 
is  very  often  of  much  advantage.  Opportunity  for  a  vaca- 
tion from  the  hospital  ward  among  country  or  seaside  sur- 
roundings is  a  real  boon.  The  following  case  was  supposed 
to  have  been  doomed  to  permanent  insanity,  but  on  a  vaca- 
tion the  first  step  toward  restoration  of  reason  was  taken. 
Miss  S.,  a  well-educated,  refined  young  lady,  had  served  for 
many  years  as  a  clerk  in  the  post  office  of  one  of  our  largest 
towns.  Her  history  shows  that  her  disposition  previous  to 
her  mental  breakdown  was  of  a  very  modest,  retiring  type ; 
she  was  diligent  in  her  work  and  surrounded  by  a  loving 
and  congenial  family.    During  the  year  previous  to  her  com- 


TREATMENT  OF  THE   INSANE  149 

mitment  her  physical  health  became  impaired,  but  she  per- 
sisted in  remaining  at  her  work  against  the  advice  of  her 
family  physician.  In  the  same  office  a  young  man  was  em- 
ployed who  was  known  to  Miss  S.  only  in  the  capacity  of  a 
passing  acquaintance.  However,  Miss  S.  became  obsessed 
with  the  delusion  that  this  young  man  was  in  love  with  her 
and  she  with  him.  He  had  never  shown  her  the  least  atten- 
tion, and  was  never  known  to  address  her  except  on  mat- 
ters of  businesss  connected  with  the  institution.  As  time 
went  on  her  mind  became  more  fixed  with  this  delusion  and 
she  began  to  write  letters  to  the  young  man,  much  to  his 
surprise  and  to  the  alarm  of  her  family.  Matters  grew  from 
bad  to  worse  until  the  family  remonstrated  with  her  for  her 
continued  annoyance  of  the  young  man.  This  interference 
on  the  part  of  the  family  aroused  Miss  S.  to  such  an  extent 
that  she  became  very  violent  and  attempted  suicide.  At 
this  point  she  was  committed  to  the  insane  hospital.  She 
improved  rapidly  in  health,  but  the  delusion  remained  con- 
stant and  her  attitude  was  one  of  waiting.  When  asked 
what  she  was  waiting  for,  she  would  always  reply  that  she 
was  waiting  for  Mr.  B.  to  come  and  take  her  home  to  be 
married.  All  the  argument  and  mental  suggestion  proved 
of  no  avail.  After  a  year's  time  a  newspaper  was  shown  her 
giving  an  account  of  the  marriage  of  her  supposed  sweet- 
heart to  another  young  lady,  but  she  refused  to  believe  what 
she  read.  She  remained  in  this  condition  for  another  year, 
and  was  classed  with  the  hopeless,  chronic  insane.  After 
she  had  been  confined  for  two  years  her  family  decided  to 
make  one  last  effort  to  arouse  her  from  her  mental  sleep, 
and  at  the  suggestion  of  her  physician  she  was  allowed  to 
go  to  the  seacoast  on  a  vacation.  A  competent  nurse  was 
employed  to  go  with  her  as  a  companion,  not  as  an  attend- 
ant. After  spending  a  month  at  the  seaside  her  nurse  re- 
turned her  to  the  institution  a  new  woman,  and  reported 
that  she  had  not  referred  to  her  old  delusion  a  single  time 
during  her  stay  on  the  coast.  She  was  so  much  improved 
that  she  was  allowed  to  visit  her  sister  near  by  for  a  few 
weeks  and  went  from  there  home,  and  is  to-day  enjoying  a 
life  of  freedom  and  has  never  had  a  return  of  her  former 
trouble. 


150  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

Of  all  cases  calling  for  consideration  the  largest,  by  far, 
is  the  class  called  the  border  line  cases,  such  as  neuras- 
thenia, psychasthenia,  hysteria,  hypochondria,  mild  melan- 
cholia, migraine,  etc.  This  class  of  cases  should  be  treated 
in  suitable  sanitariums  for  nervous  diseases,  but  there  are 
great  possibilities  in  the  home  treatment  or  at  some  resort 
other  than  a  hospital.  If  the  medical  profession  and  nurs- 
ing profession,  as  well  as  the  general  public,  were  better 
informed  in  nervous  diseases,  doubtless  many  cases  of  this 
kind  could  have  been  prevented  from  going  insane.  Just 
here  an  important  point  can  be  made  for  the  need  of  teach- 
ing mental  hygiene  in  the  State  normal  schools.  Our  teach- 
ers should  be  instructed  in  this  branch  of  preventive  work 
to  such  an  extent  that  they  can  instruct  their  charges  in 
the  ways  to  form  good  mental  habits  and  to  abstain  from 
those  acts  and  habits  that  will  develop  some  form  of  mental 
or  nervous  trouble.  Also  the  teachers  should  be  educated 
to  know  and  recognize  the  early  manifestations  of  nervous 
disease,  so  that  they  may  take  the  necessary  steps  to  correct 
the  possible  wrong  or  be  in  a  position  to  call  the  parents' 
attention  to  the  child's  condition. 

Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  on  the  necessity  of  a 
more  careful  study  of  the  incipient  case  of  insanity,  and 
the  need  for  more  active  treatment  so  as  to  prevent  the  case 
from  being  chronic.  There  are  in  the  South  to-day  vast 
numbers  of  such  people  who  are  in  need  of  immediate  treat- 
ment. No  routine  plan  can  be  outlined;  each  individual 
may  require  some  treatment  especially  indicated  in  his  case. 
This  should  be  determined  after  the  patient  has  received 
a  thorough  physical  and  mental  examination.  One  patient 
may  require  rest  and  the  next  exercise  and  occupation.  One 
of  the  common  causes  of  insanity  is  disturbance  of  internal 
secretions,  and  modern  medicine  has  accomplished  much 
benefit  in  these  cases  by  organotherapy.  Surgical  procedure 
is  indicated  in  some  cases,  but  this  practice  must  be  used 
with  discretion,  because  many  cases  are  doomed  to  chronic 
insanity  by  needless  surgery.  A  word  of  warning  should 
be  given  in  regard  to  allowing  this  class  too  much  medicine. 
Regular  hours,  special  diet,  freedom  from  business  or  house- 
hold cares,  separation  from  those  whose  mouths  are  not 


PREVALENCE  AND  PREVENTION  OF  MALARIA  151 

alwaj^s  opened  with  wisdom,  or  from  over-sympathetic  mem- 
bers of  the  family  who  by  injudicious  speech  and  conduct 
succeed  only  in  fostering  and  fastening  upon  the  patient  the 
sense  of  invalidism,  the  optimistic  guidance  and  suggestions 
of  ever-watchful  doctors  and  nurses,  are  really  the  ther- 
apeutic agents  needed  to  readjust  such  a  patient  to  nor- 
mal health.  Many  a  patient  recovers  by  learning  the  sim- 
plest lessons  in  mental  hygiene,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  preach 
and  teacli  this  gospel  of  mental  health. 


PREVALENCE  AND  PREVENTION  OF  MALARIA 

R.  H.  VON  EZDORF,  M.D.,  SURGEON  U.  S.  PUBLIC  HEALTH  SERVICE 

The  section  of  the  United  States  where  malaria  mainly 
prevails  includes  the  States  of  our  South — namely,  Ala- 
bama, Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Missouri,  Oklahoma,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Eastern  Texas,  and  Virginia. 

PREVALENCE 

From  the  information  thus  far  accumulated  through 
reports  from  health  authorities  and  physicians,  a  fair 
estimate  would  be  that  at  least  4%,  or  1,000,000,  of  the 
25,000,000  people  in  these  States  suffer  annually  an  attack 
of  malarial  fever.  The  reports  for  the  year  1915,  when 
completed,  will  exceed  this  estimate,  and  indicate  that  ma- 
laria prevailed  in  certain  localities  in  these  States  to  a 
markedly  increased  extent;  in  many  places  as  never  before 
in  twenty-five  years. 

The  mortality  from  this  disease  varies  considerably  in 
these  States,  depending  naturally  upon  the  prevalence  of  the 
severer  types.  The  best  estimate  so  far  available  is  that 
every  50  to  300  cases  of  malaria  yield  one  death. 

TYPES  OF  MALARIA 

As  is  generally  known,  three  types  of  malaria  occur. 
Of  these,  the  tertian  type,  which  is  a  benign  type,  prevails. 
Another  benign  type,  the  qitartan,  also  occurs,  but  is  quite 
rare.  The  estivo-autumnal  type,  in  which  the  more  malig- 
nant forms  of  malaria  are  manifested,  is  also  quite  common, 


152  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

and.  seems,  from  all  accounts,  to  be  on  the  increase.  It  is 
known  that  this  type  has  made  its  appearance  in  sections 
of  the  Southern  States  where  only  the  benign  types  for- 
merly prevailed.  In  fact,  the  two  types,  tertian  and  estivo- 
aidumnal  malaria,  occur  in  all  of  the  Southern  States. 

MALARIA  CARRIERS 

The  parasite  of  malaria  occurs  naturally  only  in  man 
and  mosquito;  the  mosquito,  however,  securing  it,  so  far  as 
is  known,  only  from  man.  Man  therefore  is  responsible 
for  perpetuating  the  infection.  The  chief  reason  is  that 
many  persons  who  suffer  an  attack  of  malaria  neglect  treat- 
ment to  effect  a  complete  cure.  Such  persons  will  fre- 
quently suffer  relapses,  and  will  often  harbor  the  parasite 
while  apparently  in  good  health,  and  thus  become  poten- 
tially capable  of  infecting  malaria-bearing  mosquitoes  if 
bitten  by  them. 

A  summary  of  a  study  of  the  examination  of  the  blood 
of  16,114  apparently  healthy  persons  living  in  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and 
Virginia  is  here  of  interest: 

1.  Of  the  16,114  persons  examined,  2,391,  or  14.8  per 
cent,  were  found  to  harbor  the  parasite  of  malaria — that  is, 
about  one  of  every  seven  persons  examined  was  a  carrier. 

2.  The  percentage  of  infection  among  the  whites  ex- 
amined was  8  per  cent  and  that  among  the  colored  20  per 
cent. 

3.  The  percentages  by  color  and  sex  were  as  follows : 

White,  male 8.8%       White,  female 1.1% 

Colored,  male 21.0%       Colored,  female    2Q.Q% 

4.  The  percentage  of  carriers  was  highest  among  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  one  and  five  years  inclusive,  reach- 
ing 18.8  per  cent  of  861  examined  at  these  ages;  the  low- 
est being  ten  and  fourteen  years,  which  gave  10.2  per  cent 
of  the  3,584  examined  at  these  ages ;  and  with  a  more  grad- 
ual rise  as  age  advances  after  the  age  of  fifteen,  approxi- 
mating the  average  for  all  ages. 


PREVALENCE  AND  PREVENTION  OF  MALARIA  153 

5.  The  extremes  of  ages  of  persons  among  whom  para- 
sites were  found  were  nine  months  and  eighty-five  years. 

6.  The  order  of  prevalence  according  to  types  was  ter- 
tian, estivo-autumnal,  and  quartan.  The  ratio  of  tertian  to 
estivo-autiimnal  was  as  2  to  1. 

Only  two  pure  quartan  and  one  mixed  quartan  and  ter- 
tian were  found  in  the  total  of  2,391  infections. 

7.  The  percentages  of  infection  according  to  States,  in 
their  order,  were: 

North  Carolina  7.8%  of  4,390  examined 

Virginia   9.3%  of      320  examined 

Arkansas    10.1%  of  4,689  examined         • 

Alabama  11.4%  of  1,631  examined 

South  Carolina 11.0%  of        67  examined 

Mississippi  31.2%  of  2,403  examined 

8.  In  a  special  study,  it  was  found  that  one  of  every  four 
of  the  infected  persons  harbored  the  sexual  forms  of  the 
parasite  necessary  for  infecting  the  malaria-bearing  mos- 
quitoes. 

This  would  give  an  average  of  one  person  in  every  thirty 
examined  to  be  potential  malaria  carriers. 

FIELD  STUDIES 

In  the  course  of  general  surveys  made  in  different  places, 
all  conditions  contributing  to  the  spread  of  malaria  and  its 
control  were  studied.  These  included  especially  a  study  of 
the  various  species  of  anophelines,  their  geographical  dis- 
tribution, selection  of  breeding  places,  flight,  life  and  habits 
in  nature,  as  influenced  by  meteorological  and  topographical 
conditions. 

The  control  investigations,  laboratory  studies,  and  clin- 
ical observations  are  also  being  followed  up — for  example, 
the  studies  in  control  include  the  use  of  available  materials 
at  each  locality,  in  order  to  lessen  the  expense.  The  use  of 
wastes,  such  as  sawdust,  shavings,  ashes  for  filling  pur- 
poses ;  the  diverting  of  factory  wastes,  such  as  coloring  ma- 
terials and  a  number  of  chemical  compounds — these  are 
being  studied  as  to  their  practical  application  in  their  lar- 
vacidal  effects.    The  range  and  activity  of  top-feeding  min- 


154  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

HOWS  are  observed,  with  a  view  to  finding  the  best  species 
for  the  particular  conditions  to  be  met.  Predaceous  water 
insects  are  likewise  observed.  In  fact,  all  the  natural  condi- 
tions found  in  making  careful  surveys  are  noted. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  ofTicers  engaged  in  the  work 
of  investigation,  a  list  of  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
questions  was  prepared  covering  the  points  of  observation 
and  study  that  are  to  be  made  during  the  course  of  field 
surveys  alone.  The  facts  thus  gathered  will  be  tabulated 
and  summarized.  The  observations,  of  course,  are  made  in 
different  sections  of  the  country,  because  it  is  realized  that 
what  may  hold  good  in  one  locality  may  not  be  true  in 
another.  For  example,  hibernation  varies.  In  New  Or- 
leans anophelines  prevail  during  the  winter,  and  were  found 
to  be  breeding  throughout  that  season ;  while  at  Scott,  Mis- 
sissippi, in  the  month  of  February,  it  was  difficult  to  find 
anophelines.  They  were  not  found  in  the  hollows  of  trees, 
under  leaves,  in  barns,  attics,  or  other  protected  places  as 
was  to  be  expected,  but  were  found  under  houses  resting 
within  ten  feet  of  the  outer  edge.  This  condition  contrasted 
with  the  finding  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  where  it  was  equally  as 
cold,  about  the  same  latitude,  and  anophelines  were  found 
in  barns,  many  with  blood. 

The  laboratory  investigations  have  shown  that  an  in- 
fective anopheline  will  infect  the  human  by  its  bite  lasting 
only  a  few  seconds,  and  without  having  secured  a  feed  of 
blood;  also  that  an  anopheline  once  infected  is  probably 
capable  of  transmitting  the  infection  as  long  as  it  lives  and 
as  frequently  as  it  bites.  The  results  of  these  special  studies 
will  be  published. 

PREVENTION 

That  malaria  is  a  preventable  disease  is  unquestioned. 
The  best  and  most  practical  methods  to  be  applied  vary  ac- 
cording to  local  conditions.  A  combination  of  all  known 
methods,  including  the  control  of  mosquitoes  by  the  appli- 
cation of  drainage,  oiling,  screening,  etc.,  and  for  the 
human  host  the  use  of  quinine,  stressing  one  or  the  other 
as  may  seem  advisable,  should  be  adopted.  The  reason  is 
that  no  one  method  is  perfect  at  the  start. 


THE  FIGHT  AGAINST   TUBERCULOSIS  155 

In  general,  it  may  be  stated  that  in  considering-  the  bene- 
fits to  be  derived  by  any  single  measure  we  should  have  in 
mind  the  benefit  to  as  many  persons  as  possible — for 
example,  by  controlling  the  breeding  of  anopheline  mosqui- 
toes over  a  large  area,  such  as  a  town  or  city,  the  large 
number  of  persons  living  therein  are  considered  collectively 
and  form  a  unit;  by  perfect  screening  of  a  house,  a  whole 
family  will  form  a  unit.  A  single  measure,  such  as  the  use 
of  quinine,  will  undoubtedly  secure  like  results,  but  it 
depends  upon  the  individual  effort,  aff'ects  the  individual 
person,  and  thus  multiplies  the  units  to  be  considered. 

ECONOMICS 

The  economic  loss  to  the  entire  people  of  the  South  can- 
not be  estimated.  It  includes  not  only  the  loss  incident  to 
sickness  and  death,  but  also  the  loss  consequent  upon  the 
depreciation  of  properties,  working  capacity,  productive- 
ness, and  the  general  development  of  the  natural  resources. 

Malaria  in  the  South  spells  "destruction;"  its  control 
"construction." 


THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  TUBERCULOSIS 

CHARLES  J.  HATFIELD,  M.D.,  EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY  NATIONAL 

ASSOCIATION   FOR   THE   STUDY    AND   PREVENTION   OF 

TUBERCULOSIS,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  fight  against  tuberculosis  began  the  day  Dr.  Robert 
Koch  announced  the  discovery  of  the  tubercle  bacillus.  This 
discovery  not  only  exposed  the  cause  of  the  disease,  ^  but 
showed  how  to  destroy  it. 

But  the  bright  hopes  of  those  first  days  of  discovery 
were  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  instead  of  an  early 
extermination  of  the  disease  by  the  direct  application  of 
Koch's  work,  there  developed  a  long  and  tedious  process  of 
skirmishing  which  has  settled  down  to  a  siege  of  the  tuber- 
culosis strongholds.  That  this  much  slower  method  of 
struggle  was  necessary  is  evidenced  to  us  who  now  look  over 
the  field  in  the  perspective  of  years  and  in  the  light  of  the 


156  DEMOCRACY    IN   EARNEST 

following  three  facts:  First,  that  tuberculosis  is  a  deadly, 
subtle  disease,  the  germs  of  which  may  lie  dormant  in  the 
body  for  a  long  time;  second,  that  it  has  been  for  ages  the 
subject  of  much  ignorance  and  suspicion  which  can  with 
difficulty  be  eradicated;  and  third,  that  it  is  closely  related 
to  such  factors  as  the  personal  habits  of  the  individual,  his 
living  and  working  conditions,  all  of  which  involve  the  slow 
process  of  raising  the  standards  of  living. 

The  fight  against  tuberculosis,  therefore,  both  in  the 
United  States  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  has  devel- 
oped along  three  lines :  First,  the  control  of  the  foci  of  in- 
fection by  preventing  the  spread  of  the  tubercle  bacillus 
from  the  tuberculous  sick  to  the  well;  second,  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people  concerning  the  dangers  and  the  methods 
of  prevention  and  cure;  and  third,  the  correction  or  removal 
of  those  bad  environmental  conditions  in  the  home,  the 
workshop,  and  the  community  which  tend  to  weaken  the  in- 
dividual's resistance  to  disease. 

Among  the  fighting  machinery  and  methods  used  in  the 
war  against  tuberculosis  let  us  consider  the  most  impor- 
tant. First  of  all,  there  are  the  boards  of  health,  both  State 
and  local,  which  assume  community  responsibility  for  the 
control  of  the  disease,  and  which  should  be  the  backbone  of 
any  force  against  it.  Then  there  are  hospitals  for  advanced 
cases  whose  importance  lies  generally  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  centers  for  segregating  the  advanced  foci  of  infection. 
Here  the  center  from  which  the  disease  is  spread  may  be 
kept  in  a  humane  manner,  and  may  even  be  restored  to  par- 
tial efficiency.  The  sanatorium  for  curable  cases  which  is 
valuable  as  a  means  of  treatment  and  of  education  is  an- 
other weapon  in  the  fight  against  tuberculosis.  The  visit- 
ing nurse  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  in  this  war. 
It  is  through  her  instrumentality  that  treatment  of  tubercu- 
losis in  the  home  is  at  all  possible.  At  the  present  time, 
with  less  than  4-0,000  beds  for  consumptives  in  the  entire 
United  States  and  at  lea^t  1,000,000  cases,  home  treatment 
is  evidently  a  necessity.    The  dispensary  is  another  agency 


THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  TUBERCULOSIS  157 

whose  value  is  evidenced  both  as  a  discoverer  of  cases,  as  a 
center  for  free  treatment,  as  a  headquarters  for  advice  and 
information,  and  as  a  place  for  admission  to  hospitals  and 
sanatoria.  Open-air  schools  for  children  who  are  tubercu- 
lous and  for  those  who  are  anemic,  under-nourished,  and 
predisposed  to  this  disease  are  another  agency  that  is  being 
used.  Closely  allied  to  these  is  the  preventorium,  a  new 
type  of  institution  which  is  taking  care  of  the  children  who 
have  been  exposed  to  tuberculosis  in  families  where  one  or 
more  adults  have  the  disease.  More  and  more  are  we  com- 
ing to  realize  the  important  part  which  the  saving  of  a 
child  plays  in  the  future  prevention  of  this  disease. 

Coordinating  all  of  the  agencies  engaged  in  the  fight 
against  tuberculosis  is  the  Anti-Tuberculosis  Society.  It  is 
the  educational  agent,  the  experimenter  and  demonstrator 
of  new  ideas,  the  stimulater  and  agitator  whicn  keeps  the 
subject  continuously  before  the  public.  Then  there  are 
finally  many  related  agencies  and  movements  for  health 
and  social  betterment,  all  of  which  are  playing  a  part  in 
the  anti-tuberculosis  campaign,  such  as  the  movements  for 
better  housing,  the  infant  mortality  and  child  welfare  move- 
ments, the  labor  movements  for  better  wages,  shorter  hours, 
and  better  conditions  of  working,  the  relief  agencies,  in- 
cluding charity  organization  societies,  lodges,  etc.,  women's 
clubs,  the  press,  and  whatever  helps  to  raise  the  level  of 
living. 

It  is  a  great  fight.  It  demands  the  support  of  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  United  States.  Its  field  is  as 
broad  as  the  community  itself,  a7id  its  results  show  in  every 
phase  of  'public  health. 

It  is,  furthermore,  a  winning  fight.  The  death  rate  from 
tuberculosis  is  steadily  declining.  We  have  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  anti-tuberculosis  campaign  is  accelerating 
this  decline.  In  ten  years,  from  1904  to  1914,  the  death 
rate  of  the  United  States  declined  from  200.7  per  thou- 
sand population  to  146.8,  a  drop  of  over  25  per  cent.  There 
are  to-day  over  3,500  agencies  definitely  allied  in  the  fight 


158  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

against  tuberculosis,  including  some  600  sanatoria  and  hos- 
pitals, 450  dispensaries,  over  800  open-air  schools,  and 
about  1,500  anti-tuberculosis  associations  and  committees. 
Besides  these,  there  are  some  4,000  or  more  visiting  nurses 
engaged  in  whole  or  in  part  in  anti-tuberculosis  work,  nu- 
merous boards  of  health,  and  other  agencies  by  the  score, 
giving  some  amount  of  time  and  service  in  this  fight.  From 
the  scattered  skirmishing  lines  of  badly  munitioned  hos- 
pitals and  untrained  soldiers  the  battle  against  tuberculosis 
has  in  ten  years  developed  fighting  forces  such  as  I  have 
enumerated,  in  which  100,000  people  are  enlisted  in  one  way 
or  another,  while  at  times  there  are  500,000  or  more.  Who 
can  deny  in  the  face  of  these  gains  that  it  is  a  winning  fight  ? 
It  is  a  fight,  furthermore,  that  demands  preparedness, 
for  the  siege  is  a  long  and  a  difficult  one.  "We  battle  not 
against  principalities  and  powers,"  but  against  ignorance, 
superstition,  greed,  indifference,  and  the  subtle  intrench- 
ments  of  a  deadly  microscopic  foe.  We  will  win  if  you  and 
every  one,  individuals  and  communities,  will  work  to  put 
into  operation  the  agencies  and  methods  which  we  have. 


THE  MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE 
SOUTHERN  STATES 

FREDERICK  L.  HOFFMAN,  M.D..  PRUDENTIAL  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY, NEWARK,  N.   J. 

The  geographical  incidence  of  cancer  is  apparently  de- 
cidedly less  in  semitropical  latitudes  than  in  the  temperate 
and  arctic  regions  of  the  world.  As  pointed  out  in  the  re- 
statement of  conclusions  and  results  in  my  work  on  "The 
Mortality  from  Cancer  Throughout  the  World,"  a  brief  con- 
sideration of  cancer  frequency  as  modified  by  latitude,  size 
of  cities,  and  climatic  conditions  seemingly  warrants  the 
conclusion  that  cancer  frequency  decreases  with  diminish- 
ing distance  from  the  equator,  or,  what  is  practically  the 


MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE  SOUTH  159 

equivalent  thereof,  a  rise  in  cancer  mortality  is  observed  to 
occur  with  a  diminishing  annual  temperature  and  rainfall. 
This  cautious  conclusion  requires  to  be  still  further  ampli- 
fied, for  there  are  numerous  and  important  exceptions  to 
the  principle  as  precisely  stated  in  the  preceding  question. 
For  illustration,  the  general  cancer  death  rate  of  Havana  is 
102.7  per  100,000  of  population  in  contrast  to  a  rate  of  only 
77.1  for  New  York,  and  of  85.3  for  Philadelphia.  The  can- 
cer death  rate  for  Caracas,  Venezuela  (104.8),  Paramaribo, 
Dutch  Guiana  (95.6),  and  Bogota,  U.  S.  Colombia  (89.7), 
are  all  in  excess  of  the  New  Orleans  rate  of  84.9  for  the 
corresponding  period  of  years  (1908-12).  The  rates  for  all 
Southern  cities  are  necessarily  impaired  in  general  value 
for  comparative  purposes  on  account  of  the  more  or  less  pre- 
dominating negro  population,  the  cancer  death  rate  of 
which,  as  a  general  rule,  falls  materially  below  the  corre- 
sponding rate  for  the  white  population.  For  illustration, 
during  the  period  1906-12,  in  thirty  large  Southern  cities 
of  the  United  States  the  cancer  mortality  rate  of  the  white 
population  was  80.3  per  100,000,  against  a  rate  of  55.2  for 
the  colored  population.  As  subsequently  to  be  noted,  the 
general  cancer  death  rate  cannot  be  relied  upon  as  entirely 
conclusive,  even  with  reference  to  this  apparently  simple 
problem  in  statistical  analysis.  As  observed  and  fully  ex- 
plained in  my  address  on  the  "Mortality  from  Cancer 
Throughout  the  Western  Hemisphere,"  delivered  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Second  Pan-American  Scientific  Congress, 
every  international  comparison  requires  an  analysis  of  the 
cancer  death  rate  in  detail  according  to  sex,  and  organs  and 
parts  of  the  body  affected.  As  shown  on  that  occasion,  seri- 
ously erroneous  conclusions  may  result  from  the  use  of 
crude  statistics  not  subjected  to  the  suggested  method  of 
refined  analysis.  For  illustration,  the  cancer  death  rate  of 
New  Orleans  (84.9  per  100,000)  compares  with  a  cancer 
death  rate  for  Buenos  Aires  of  85.5,  or  practically  the  same ; 
but  when  the  rates  are  subjected  to  precise  analysis  it  ap- 
pears that  the  male  cancer  death  rate  of  New  Orleans  i& 


160  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

75.3  per  100,000,  against  a  male  cancer  death  rate  for 
Buenos  Aires  of  98.1.  In  still  more  marked  contrast,  it 
appears  that  the  female  cancer  death  rate  of  New  Orleans 
was  97.3  per  100,000,  against  a  female  cancer  death  rate 
for  Buenos  Aires  of  71.2.  The  lower  cancer  death  rate  of 
women  in  Buenos  Aires  is  in  marked  contrast  to  a  decidedly 
higher  mortality  from  cancer  of  the  generative  organs  and 
the  breast  among  the  women  of  New  Orleans,  the  compari- 
son in  the  case  of  New  Orleans  being  limited  to  the  white 
population.  These  illustrations  are  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose of  emphasizing  the  importance  of  a  qualified  and  ex- 
tended statistical  analysis  of  the  mortality  from  cancer, 
with  a  due  regard  to  the  geographical  and  racial  incidence 
of  the  disease,  not  only  throughout  the  United  State  but 
throughout  the  entire  civilized  world.  For  numerous  sug- 
gestive further  illustrations,  the  address  on  "The  Mortality 
from  Cancer  Throughout  the  Western  Hemisphere,"  pub- 
lished in  the  Journal  of  Cancer  Research,  and  my  "Mor- 
tality from  Cancer  Throughout  the  World"  should  be 
consulted. 

The  following  table  presents  the  general  cancer  death 
rate  of  eight  Southern  cities,  for  the  period  1911-15,  accord- 
ing to  race  but  without  reference  to  sex : 

MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  EIGHT  SOUTHERN 
CITIES,  1911-1915 

RATES  PER  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  OF  POPULATION 


White 

Baltimore    96.5 

Charleston    82.6 

Memphis  68.5 

Nashville  80.3 

New  Orleans  92.1 

Richmond   97.9 

Savannah   84.2 

Washington   104.0             81.8                     79 


Colored  Cancer 

Deaths  per  100 

Colored 

White  Deaths 

79.6 

82 

47.2 

57 

52.9 

77 

52.5 

65 

98.1 

107 

62.6 

64 

63.1 

75 

Total  : 93.8  72.3  77 


MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE  SOUTH  161 

According  to  this  table  the  average  cancer  death  rate  for 
the  white  population  was  93.8  per  100,000  of  population, 
against  a  cancer  death  rate  for  the  colored  of  72.3.  Charles- 
ton has  the  lowest  cancer  death  rate  among  the  colored  popu- 
lation, and  New  Orleans  has  the  highest.  In  the  case  of 
New  Orleans  the  colored  cancer  death  rate  is  now  slightly 
above  the  corresponding  rate  for  the  white  population.  All 
previous  investigations  have  shown  a  decidedly  lower  can- 
cer death  rate  among  the  colored  population,  but  for  many 
years  there  has  been  a  decided  upward  tendency  in  the 
Southern  cancer  death  rate  among  both  races. 

The  white  cancer  death  rate  of  New  Orleans  increased 
from  an  average  of  86.6  per  100,000  population  during 
1904-13  to  95.7  during  the  two  years  1914-15.  There  was, 
therefore,  an  actual  increase  of  9.1  per  100,000  population 
in  the  rate,  equivalent  to  10.5  per  cent.  The  colored  cancer 
death  rate  increased  from  an  average  of  78.7  per  100,000 
during  the  decade  ending  with  1913,  to  112.8  during  the 
two  years  1914-15.  There  was,  therefore,  an  actual  increase 
in  the  colored  cancer  death  rate  of  34.1  per  100,000,  equiva- 
lent to  43.3  per  cent. 

Examining  in  detail  the  several  important  organs  and 
parts,  it  is  shown  that  there  was  an  increase  in  every  form 
of  cancer  for  both  races.  Cancer  of  the  buccal  cavity,  for 
instance,  increased  from  4.9  to  9.4  per  100,000  among 
the  white  population,  and  from  2.7  to  6.3  among  the  col- 
ored. Cancer  of  the  stomach  and  liver  increased  from  25.3 
to  27.1  per  100,000  among  the  white  population,  and  from 
21.1  to  33.2  among  the  colored.  Cancer  of  the  peritoneum, 
intestines,  and  rectum  increased  from  6.6  to  11.0  per  100,000 
among  the  white  population,  and  from  6.0  to  9.0  among  the 
colored.  Cancer  of  the  female  generative  organs  increased 
from  18.2  to  19.3  per  100,000  among  the  white  population, 
and  from  28.0  to  34.3  among  the  colored.  Cancer  of  the 
breast  increased  from  6.1  to  8.4  per  100,000  among  the 
white  population,  and  from  6.6  to  9.0  among  the  colored. 
Cancer  of  the  skin  increased  from  1.1  to  6.9  per  100,000 
11 


162  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

among  the  white  population,  and  from  0.5  to  3.7  among 
the  colored.  Finally,  cancer  of  other  or  not  specified 
organs  diminished  from  24.4  to  13.6  per  100,000  among 
the  white  population,  but  among  the  colored  the  mor- 
tality rate  for  this  group  increased  from  13.8  to  17.3  per 
100,000.  It  is  quite  obvious  that  the  diminished  mor- 
tality in  the  not  specified  group  among  the  white  popu- 
lation is  lai^ely  accounted  for  by  more  precise  methods  in 
death  certification.  This  conclusion,  however,  does  not 
apply  to  the  colored,  since  among  this  class  the  rate  in- 
creased, and  relatively  quite  considerably  so,  in  every  group 
of  organs  and  parts,  including  the  not  specified. 

These  statistics  are  suggestive  either  of  a  definite  and 
truly  alarming  increase  in  cancer  liability  among  the  white 
and  colored  populations  of  New  Orleans,  or  they  are  mis- 
leading to  the  extent  that  they  are  impaired  by  a  material 
increase  in  admissions  to  the  Charity  Hospital  and  other 
institutions  providing  facilities  for  operative  treatment.  It 
has  not  been  feasible  to  extend  the  analysis  to  the  more 
recent  statistics  for  the  Charity  Hospital,  which  have  not 
been  available  subsequent  to  1912.  The  foregoing  table, 
however,  strongly  suggests  the  urgency  of  a  thoroughly 
qualified  analysis  of  the  more  recent  experience  data  of  the 
Charity  Hospital,  with  a  due  regard  to  the  important  ques- 
tion as  to  the  residence  of  the  patient,  since  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  the  institution  is  being  made  use  of  to  an  increas- 
ing extent  on  the  part  of  non-residents.  If  that  should  be 
the  case,  the  general  cancer  death  rate  of  New  Orleans 
would  obviously  be  misleading  for  comparison  with  other 
Southern  cities  not  affected  by  institutional  admissions  of 
non-residents  to  a  similar  degree. 

It  is  extremely  suggestive  that  among  the  colored  male 
population,  for  illustration,  the  mortality  from  cancer  of 
the  buccal  cavity  should  have  more  than  doubled  in  pro- 
portion to  population,  and  the  same  is  true  of  cancer  of  the 
stomach  and  liver.  For  the  last  named  group,  which,  of 
course,  is  relatively  of  the  first  order  of  importance  in  all 


MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE  SOUTH  163 

cancer  statistics,  the  rate  for  colored  males  has  increased 
from  24.7  per  100,000  to  50.6.  The  corresponding  increase 
for  the  white  male  population  of  New  Orleans  was  only 
from  27.5  to  31.7.  The  increase  is  for  the  last  two  years 
(1914-15)  compared  with  the  previous  decade  (1904-13). 
Aside  from  other  interesting  facts  disclosed,  attention  is 
directed  to  the  much  lesser  increase,  and  in  fact  almost 
stationary  condition,  of  the  mortality  from  cancer  of  the 
stomach  and  liver  among  both  white  and  colored  females 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  the  respective  rates  having  de- 
creased from  23.2  to  22.8  for  the  white  population,  and  hav- 
ing increased  from  18.1  to  18.5  per  100,000  for  the  colored. 
The  mortality  from  cancer  of  the  female  generative  organs 
has  also  remained  nearly  stationary  among  the  white  female 
population  of  New  Orleans,  the  rate  having  increased  from 
35.6  to  37.3  per  100,000,  but  in  contrast  there  has  been  an 
increase  from  51.8  to  63.3  among  the  colored.  The  higher 
mortality  from  cancer  of  the  female  generative  organs 
among  colored  women  is  not  limited  to  the  city  of  New  Or- 
leans, but  is  probably  common  to  all  Southern  cities  for 
which  trustworthy  data  are  available.  This  aspect  of  the 
cancer  problem  is  also  of  much  scientific  importance  and 
deserving  of  much  more  qualified  consideration  than  has 
heretofore  beeij  given  to  the  probable  conditional  circum- 
stances, the  ascertainment  of  which  should  not  be  beyond 
the  methods  and  means  of  modern  laboratory  research. 

The  increase  in  the  cancer  death  rate  of  Southern  cities 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years  has  been  persistent  for 
both  elements  of  the  population.  Combining  the  data  for 
eight  of  the  principal  Southern  cities,  it  is  shown  in  the 
table  following  that  the  rate  for  both  races  combined  has 
increased  from  48.8  per  100,000  population  during  1891-95 
to  89.7  during  1911-15.  For  the  white  population  the  in- 
crease in  the  cancer  death  rate  was  from  52.7  to  93.8  per 
100,000,  or,  in  other  words,  there  was  an  actual  increase  in 
the  rate  of  41.1  per  100,000  of  population,  equivalent  to  78.0 
per  cent.    For  the  colored  population  the  cancer  death  rate 


164  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

increased  from  39.1  to  72.3;  or,  in  other  words,  there  was 
an  actual  increase  in  the  cancer  death  rate  of  33.2  per 
100,000  of  population,  equivalent  to  84.9  per  cent.  The 
rates  in  detail  for  both  races  combined  are  presented  in  the 
table  following: 

MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  EIGHT  SOUTHERN 
CITIES,  1891-1915 

RATES  PER  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  OF  POPULATION 

1891-1)5    1S96-00   1901-05   1906-10   1911-15 

Baltimore   57.8  66.3  76.3  85.8  98.3 

Charleston    52.9  60.4  52.5  53.6  64.3 

Memphis   21.9  30.1  36.6  48.7  62.5 

Nashville   35.8  47.8  52.4  68.0  71.3 

New   Orleans   67.3  62.1  77.2  82.2  93.7 

Richmond    32.5  38.2  45.0  73.9  85.0 

Savannah    34.0  40.0  50.4  47.1  67.9 

Washington    54.2  62.4  74.1  86.0  97.8 

Total    48.8         53.8         63.7         74.5         89.7 

In  the  table  following  the  corresponding  information  is 
given  in  detail  for  the  white  population: 

MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  EIGHT  SOUTHERN 
CITIES,  1891-1915 

White  Population 

RATES  PER   hundred  THOUSAND  OF   POPULATION 

1891-95    1896-00   1901-05   190G-10   1911-15 

Baltimore    48.7  56.0  67.1  78.1  96.5 

Charleston    60.8  82.7  62.5  73.2  82.6 

Memphis    '. 26.0  41.6  45.8  59.2  68.5 

Nashville   40.9  46.8  57.5  74.5  80.3 

New   Orleans   68.0  65.6  78.5  85.6  92.1 

Richmond     38.7  44.6  45.7  83.7  97.9 

Savannah    34.6  64.2  72.6  70.5  84.2 

Washington     60.6  65.4  80.4  93.4  104.0 

Total   52.7         58.5         69.0         81.2         93.8 


MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE  SOUTH  165 

,The  table  below  shows  the  comparative  cancer  death 
rates  for  eight  principal  cities  of  the  colored  population : 

MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  EIGHT  SOUTHERN 
CITIES,  1891-1915 

Colored  Population 

rates  per  hundred  thousand  of  population 

1S91-95    1896-00   1901-05   1906-10   1911-15 

Baltimore     32.9  40.6  47.2  63.6  79.6 

Charleston    46.8  43.2  44.6  36.6  47.2 

Memphis    17.1  17.7  25.6  33.8  52.9 

Nashville   27.7  49.4  43.1  55.0  52.5 

New  Orleans  65.5  52.5  73.5  72.8  98.1 

Richmond   22.9  27.9  43.7  57.0  62.6 

Savannah     33.4  17.7  29.6  24.8  63.1 

Washington     40.9  56.1  59.7  68.1  81.8 

Total    39.1         42.1         50.2         57.0         72.3 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  comparative  mortality 
of  the  white  and  colored  population  of  Maryland,  by  age 
periods,  as  the  basis  of  the  aggregate  population,  estimated 
for  intercensal  years: 

MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  BY  AGE  AND  RACE  IN 
MARYLAND,  1909-1913 

RATES  PER  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  OF  POPULATION 

White  Colored 

Deaths  from.  Deaths  from 

Cancer  Rate  Cancer  Rate 

Under  5  years 18  3.2  4  3.0 

5-9     8  1.5  ..  0.0 

10-19     18  1.7  5  2.1 

20-29     63  6.6  21  9.3 

30-39     253  32.4  75  44.7 

40-49     609  99.3  163  129.4 

50-59 1,068  244.4  164  209.6 

60-69     1,166  440.5  110  244.1 

70-79     755  633.4  58  307.0 

80   and  over 255  879.5  23  422.5 

Unknown   3          2 

All  ages 4,216  78.5  625  53.3 

If  the  rates  had  been  standardized  by  the  direct  method 
of  the  Registrar-General  of  England  and  Wales,  taking  the 


166  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

population  of  England  and  Wales  for  1901  as  a  standard, 
the  cancer  mortality  for  the  white  population  would  have 
been  74.3  per  100,000,  and  for  the  colored  population  58.0. 
In  other  words,  when  adjusted  for  age,  the  difference  in  the 
crude  cancer  death  rate  between  the  two  races  is  somewhat 
reduced.  There  are  therefore  reasons  for  believing  that, 
upon  the  basis  of  a  thoroughly  qualified  and  strictly  scien- 
tific statistical  analysis,  the  apparent  disparity  in  the  can- 
cer death  rates  of  the  two  races  would  be  shown  to  be  of 
lesser  importance  than  is  apparently  the  case  on  the  basis 
of  the  crude  mortality  data,  which,  however,  for  general 
purposes,  are  sufficiently  trustworthy. 

An  important  fact  disclosed  by  the  preceding  table  is 
that  between  the  ages  10  and  49  the  cancer  death  rate  for 
the  colored  population  is  above  the  corresponding  rate  for 
the  white  population.  This  conclusion  is  unquestionably  of 
considerable  practical  importance.  A  corresponding  analy- 
sis should  be  made  of  the  data  for  the  city  of  New  Orleans, 
to  determine  whether  the  observed  increase  in  the  cancer 
mortality  of  the  colored  race  has  there,  as  apparently  in 
Maryland,  fallen  largely  upon  the  younger  ages.  Cancer, 
of  course,  as  requires  no  explanation,  is,  broadly  speaking, 
a  disease  of  well  advanced  adult  life,  and  a  tendency  to- 
ward a  material  increase  in  the  cancer  death  rate  at  younger 
ages  would  be  of  profound  medical  and  general  scientific 
impt)rtance. 

Race  pathology  is  as  yet  far  from  having  attained  to 
the  dignity  of  an  exact  science.  Regardless  of  an  enormous 
literature  on  comparative  anatomy,  physiology,  and  pathol- 
ogy,  as  well  as  fecundity  and  mortality,  the  conclusions,  in 
the  main,  rest  either  upon  an  insufficient  statistical  basis  or 
upon  crude  methods  of  statistical  generalization.  Among 
the  most  important  observations  on  tumors  in  relation  to 
race  are  the  thoughtful  conclusions  of  Dr.  Rudolph  Matas, 
in  his  classical  essay  on  "The  Surgical  Peculiarities  of  the 
Negro."  The  permanency  of  race  traits  and  tendencies  is 
unquestionably,  to  a  large  extent,  conditioned  by  physiologi- 
cal and  pathological  peculiarities.  Changes  in  disease  re- 
sistance and  the  consequential  specific  mortality  rate  are, 


MORTALITY  FROM  CANCER  IN  THE  SOUTH  167 

therefore,  deserving  of  much  more  extended  and  qualified 
consideration  than  has  heretofore  been  the  case.  Cancer 
itself  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  afflictions  of  the  human 
race,  and  as  far  as  statistical  evidence  can  be  relied  upon 
the  disease  throughout  civilized  countries  is  nearly  every- 
where on  the  increase.  The  cause  of  cancer  research  must 
needs  be  materially  aided  by  strictly  scientific  statistical 
investigations,  and  in  the  furtherance  of  that  effort  it 
seemed  well  worth  while  to  bring  together  the  major  por- 
tion of  the  available  statistical  material  on  cancer  frequency 
throughout  the  world.  Even  that  investigation  can  only  be 
looked  upon  as  a  beginning,  but  every  additional  and  more 
specialized  statistical  study  reemphasizes  the  final  conclu- 
sionion  advanced  in  that  work  that — 

"Reviewing  the  aggregate  results  of  the  present  investi- 
gation, it  is  shown  that  cancer  is  much  more  common  than 
has  generally  been  assumed  to  be  the  case;  that  the  mor- 
tality from  the  disease  throughout  the  civilized  world  ex- 
ceeds 500,000  per  annum,  and  in  the  United  States  about 
80,000  at  the  present  time;  that  the  disease  is  increasing 
in  practically  all  civilized  countries  and  as  a  general  rule  in 
all  its  forms  or  varieties,  and  that  it  is  therefore  strictly 
within  the  limits  of  scientific  conjecture  that  a  further  rise 
in  the  death  rate  may  be  anticipated,  unless  the  disease  is 
made  subject  to  more  effective  methods  of  treatment  and 
control.  The  attainment  of  this  purpose  can  be  brought 
about  only  by  arousing  a  world-wide  interest  in  the  prob- 
lem of  cancer  control,  rather  than  in  the  strictly  scientific 
aspects  of  cancer  causation,  and  the  development  of  a  sound 
public  understanding  oi  the  imperative  necessity  of  early 
surgical  and  other  interference  in  place  of  blind  reliance 
upon  more  or  less  disappointing  methods  of  treatment  by 
other  means.  All  of  these  and  many  other  more  or  less 
controversial  aspects  of  the  cancer  problem  urgently  sug- 
gest the  broadening  of  the  scope  of  statistical  research  and 
the  perfection  of  methods  of  statistical  inquiry,  toward  the 
end  that  the  whole  truth  of  the  cancer  problem  may  be  re- 
vealed to  the  immeasurable  advantage  of  the  human  race." 


168  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 


THE  PERIL  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES 

WILLIAM  F.  SNOW,  M.D.,  SECRETARY  AMERICAN  SOCIAL 
HYGIENE  ASSOCIATION,   NEW  YORK   CITY 

Somewhere  among  the  stories  of  Greek  mythology  is 
one  of  Minos,  King  of  Crete,  who  avenged  himself  against 
the  Athenians  by  demanding  at  intervals  a  tribute  of  seven 
youths  and  seven  maidens.  These  he  sent  to  be  devoured 
by  the  Minotaur,  a  monster  with  a  bull's  body  and  a  human 
head  which  was  kept  confined  in  a  cleverly  constructed  laby- 
rinth. It  was  through  the  courage  and  resourcefulness  of 
a  youth  and  maiden,  so  the  legend  runs,  that  this  monster 
was  tracked  down  and  killed. 

It  requires  little  imagination  to  adapt  this  ancient  legend 
to  our  modern  sacrifice  of  youths  and  maidens  to  the  double 
monster  called  prostitution  and  venereal  disease.  Yearly  we 
furnish  our  victims,  paying  little  heed  to  the  voices  of  science 
and  religion  explaining  how  we  may  slay  the  monster  if  we 
will.  If  this  modern  sacrifice  is  ever  to  be  prevented,  it  will 
come  about,  as  in  the  legend,  through  the  intelligent,  self- 
sacrificing  action  of  our  youths  and  maidens — and  of  our 
men  and  women  of  maturer  years — in  applying,  first,  to 
their  individual  conduct  the  ideals  of  love  and  marriage 
which  history  has  proved  are  best  for  society  and  for  the 
race;  and  secondly,  to  the  community  those  improvements 
in  environment,  medical  treatment,  and  social  betterment 
which  are  related  to  the  problem. 

That  venereal  diseases  are  a  "peril,"  outranking  even 
tuberculosis  as  a  cause  of  inefficiency,  misery,  and  (indi- 
rectly) death,  has  become  recognized.  Accurate  informa- 
tion on  the  prevalence  of  these  diseases  is  not  available. 

Time,  thought,  and  millions  of  dollars  are  being  expended 
on  public  education  and  protection  in  the  "safety  first" 
movement.  With  the  change  of  a  word  or  a  phrase  here 
and  there  and  the  increase  of  the  figures  by  an  undeter- 
mined but  large  percentage,  this  appeal  may  be  adapted  to 
the  reduction  of  venereal  diseases.  The  fallacy  that  these 
diseases  are  limited  to  those  who  live  sexually  immoral  lives 
has  been  proved  by  our  increasing  knowledge  of  infected 


THE  PERIL  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES  169 

children,  women,  and  men  who  are  innocent  themselves  of 
any  immoral  act. 

Stated  in  terms  of  present  scientific  knowledge,  syphilis 
and  gonococcus  infections  are  foremost  among  a  group 
which  may  be  designated  social  as  well  as  individual  dis- 
orders affecting  people's  lives  in  many  tragic  ways,  and 
therefore  to  be  attacked  through  social  measures  as  well  as 
medical  treatment.  They  are  communicable  infections  due 
to  identified  organisms;  their  methods  of  transmission  are 
knowm,  and  a  practical  laboratory  and  clinical  technique 
has  been  worked  out  for  diagnosing  each  of  them ;  they  are 
widely  prevalent  throughout  the  world  and  are  not  limited 
to  any  race,  sex,  age,  or  condition  of  people ;  they  find  their 
chief  opportunity  for  dissemination  in  the  sex  relations  of 
infected  individuals  with  other  individuals  who  are  sus- 
ceptible; they  are  largely  but  not  exclusively  transmitted 
through  the  promiscuous  sex  relations  defined  as  prostitu- 
tion ;  recent  methods  of  therapy  make  practicable  the  short- 
ening of  the  period  of  infectivity  and  improve  the  chances 
of  ultimate  recovery  of  the  patient  submitting  to  early  and 
thorough  treatment;  once  contracted,  they  may  run  their 
course  to  practical  recovery  with  or  without  medical  assist- 
ance ;  but  under  prevailing  conditions  of  ignorance  and  mis- 
information an  unknown  but  large  percentage  of  those  in- 
fected never  completely  regain  their  health  or  cease  to  be 
carriers,  and  are  therefore  a  continuous  menace  to  society. 
Syphilis  in  its  early  stages  is  especially  a  public  danger, 
while  in  its  late  manifestations  the  menace  is  largely  con- 
fined to  the  individual  himself;  gonorrhea,  on  the  contrary, 
while  a  public  danger  at  all  times,  is  particularly  damag- 
ing to  the  individual  in  its  early  acute  development  dnd 
later  becomes  an  insidious  danger  to  those  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  him. 

With  these  general  facts  before  us,  the  medical  lines  of 
attack  are  clear.  We  must  seek  by  cooperation  with  or  con- 
trol of  the  infected  individual  to  prevent  his  infecting 
others;  we  must  endeavor  by  education  and  administrative 
measures  to  enable  uninfected  individuals  to  protect  them- 
selves against  infection;  we  must  develop,  so  far  as  may 


170  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

become  possible,  the  defenses  of  society  calculated  to  pre- 
vent the  recrudescence  of  venereal  diseases  in  any  com- 
munity which  is  measurably  reducing  them. 

The  measures  which  have  been  advocated  to  meet  this 
program  may  be  grouped  as  follows: 

1.  Management  of  existent  cases. 

2.  Prophylactic  measures. 

3.  .Measures  contributing  to  their  reduction  and  ulti- 
mate eradication. 

Now  if  this  battle  is  worth  fighting  at  all,  it  is  worth 
fighting  intelligently,  and  with  the  courage  and  persistence 
and  personal  sacrifice  which  have  characterized  Americans 
in  every  great  enterprise  during  our  national  growth.  Ob- 
viously, the  first  need  is  to  discover  those  who  have  the  dis- 
eases and  provide  forvtheir  treatment.  This  means  that 
individuals  who  are  infected  or  believe  themselves  to  be 
infected  should  be  given  opportunity  for  diagnosis  and  ad- 
vice; and  furthermore  that  dispensary  treatment  and  hos- 
pital care  should  be  provided.  It  means  also  that  these 
patients  should  be  taught  how  to  protect  others  from  con- 
tracting their  diseases.  All  these  things  are  being  done  now 
in  an  increasing  number  of  cities,  and  several  of  our  State 
boards  of  health  are  offering  free  laboratory  examinations 
and  otherwise  promoting  such  work.  By  extending  social 
service  follow-up  work  to  these  diseases  our  dispensaries 
and  hospitals  are  laying  the  foundation  for  an  enormous 
reduction  of  the  infections  of  women  and  children.  All 
these  measures  may  be  applied  without  public  agitation, 
without  creating  new  divisions  of  city  government  or  medi- 
cal service,  and  without  raising  any  issue  concerning  the 
moral  standards  of  the  community.  It  now  seems  assured 
that  in  time  this  part  of  the  battle  will  be  waged  through- 
out the  United  States  with  all  the  intensity  and  effective- 
ness that  has  been  shown  in  the  battle  against  tuberculosis. 

The  second  group  of  measures,  those  directed  primarily 
toward  protecting  the  healthy  individual  from  becoming: 
infected,  have  not  been  worked  out  so  satisfactorily. 
Among  many,  three  major  proposals  present  themselves  for 
serious  consideration : 


THE  PERIL  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES  171 

1.  The  promotion  of  continence  as  the  greatest  factor 
in  personal  prophylaxis. 

2.  The  dissemination  of  general  information  concern- 
ing the  nature  and  methods  of  the  spread  of  these  diseases. 

3.  The  utilization  of  approved  medical  prophylactic 
measures  under  adequate  restrictions  and  supervision.  The 
first  two  of  these  are  manifestly  dependent  on  education, 
and  there  is  not  time  to  discuss  the  various  ways  in  which 
successful  work  is  being  launched  under  the  auspices  of 
widely  different  community  forces.  To  the  pessimist,  how- 
ever, who  says  that  continence  outside  of  marriage  is  an 
impossible  ideal  and  that  there  exist  physiological  reasons 
why  the  double  standard  of  mortality  must  continue,  it  may 
be  said  that  a  steadily  increasing  number  of  the  foremost 
medical  and  scientific  men  of  America  are  disagreeing  with 
that  view.  Recently  360  nationally  prominent  physicians 
signed  the  following  statement:  "We  the  undersigned, 
members  of  the  medical  profession,  testify  to  our  belief  that 
continence  has  not  been  shown  to  be  detrimental  to  health 
or  virility;  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  being  hiconsist- 
ent  unth  the  highest  physical,  mental,  and  moral  efficiency, 
and  that  it  offers  the  only  sure  reliance  for  sexual  health 
outside  of  marriage.*' 

There  are  a  few  authorities  who  are  not  prepared  to  sub- 
scribe to  this  statement  in  its  entirety.  But  without  dis- 
puting the  great  diflficulty  certain  individuals  may  encoun- 
ter in  personal  observance  of  continence,  it  may  be  success- 
fully contended  that  the  welfare  of  society  as  a  whole,  of 
the  family  as  an  institution,  and  of  the  children  of  the  next 
generation  demands  such  sacrifice  as  individuals  may.have 
to  make  in  the  observance  of  continence  outside  of  mar- 
riage. To  the  argument  that  man  is  polygamous  by  ances- 
try and  his  nature  cannot  be  changed,  it  is  reasonable  to 
point  out  that  no  one  knows  what  may  be  accomplished  by 
serious  effort.  Until  very  recent  years,  the  policy  of  silence 
and  toleration  of  extra-marital  sex  relations,  provided  no 
public  scandal  ensued,  has  abetted  the  almost  universal 
teaching  of  the  so-called  sex  necessity  for  men.  It  is  a  fact 
that  women  have  very  largely  been  held  to  the  observance 


172  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

of  continence  until  marriage.  It  is  a  fact  that  men  from 
the  beginning  of  history  have  been  guided  by  law  and  public 
opinion  in  the  selection  of  marriage  mates ;  it  is  rational  to 
believe  they  will  be  guided  in  the  practice  of  continence  when 
they  understand  its  importance  and  know  that  public  opin- 
ion demands  it. 

Medical  prophylaxis  has  not  yet  reached  a  stage  where 
application  to  a  civilian  population  can  be  demonstrated  to 
be  administratively  practicable,  and  I  therefore  allude  to 
such  measures  in  order  to  introduce  the  concluding  part  of 
my  paper — i.  e.,  the  moral  issues  involved  in  fighting  the 
venereal  disease  peril. 

It  must  be  conceded  that  whatever  success  attends 
efforts  to  repress  prostitution  counts  largely  toward  the 
reduction  of  venereal  diseases.  Similarly  it  must  be  evi- 
dent that  the  provisions  of  ample  facilities  for  wholesome 
play  and  recreation  and  reduction  of  environment  and  social 
conditions  which  encourage  extra-marital  sex  relations,  are 
of  vital  importance. 

In  the  last  analysis  there  stands  out,  as  the  chief  reason 
why  we  have  not  applied  in  this  field  the  scientific  knowl- 
edge we  possess,  the  fear  that  in  eliminating  venereal  dis- 
eases we  may  jeopardize  something  the  public  holds  far 
more  precious  than  health — namely,  the  morals  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Fortunately,  this  is  not  true,  but  the  difficulties  of  the 
citizen  in  reaching  a  decision  on  this  point  are  well  illus- 
trated by  the  medical  arguments  frequently  heard  for  and 
against  the  segregated  district  as  an  administrative  meas- 
ure in  controlling  prostitution. 

Those  favoring  segregation  say:  "If  you  abandon  the 
policy  of  segregation  and  medical  inspection,  you  scatter 
the  prostitutes  throughout  the  city  and  spread  both  im- 
morality and  disease."  The  opponents  say:  "Anything 
which  promotes  commercialized  prostitution  increases  both 
the  supply  and  the  demand;  and  even  if  safety  from  ve- 
nereal diseases  could  be  insured  the  extent  of  immorality 
will  greatly  increase."  The  solution  of  this  dilemma  there- 
fore lies  in  studying  the  facts.    The  continuous  repression 


THE  PERIL  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES  173 

of  commercialized  prostitution  by  a  city  reduces  both  the 
supply  and  demand,  and  also  the  amount  of  venereal  dis- 
eases. That  this  is  so  has  been  amply  proved  by  cities  of 
such  wide  differences  in  size,  industries,  character  of  popu- 
lation, and  organization  as  New  York,  Chicago,  Cleveland, 
Syracuse,  Lancaster,  and  smaller  cities  where  the  initial 
steps  of  closing  the  so-called  red-light  districts  have  been 
followed  up  by  persistent,  intelligent,  well-executed  meas- 
ures for  law  enforcement;  and  where  an  organized  public 
opinion  has  steadily  supported  the  police  and  other  special 
agencies  in  looking  toward  ultimate  elimination  of  the  visible 
evidences  of  prostitution.  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco 
are  the  last  of  our  great  cities  to  tolerate  commercialized 
vice  districts.  It  is  to  be  expected  that  these  cities  will  soon 
follow  the  examples  of  their  rivals,  New  York  and  Chicago, 
in  eliminating  this  great  evil;  in  fact,  San  Francisco  has 
already  begun  to  give  way  to  the  public  opinion  of  the  nation 
on  the  subject. 

The  practical  attack  on  the  venereal  diseases  may  be 
summed  up  something  after  this  manner: 

1.  Support  your  city  and  State  health  departments,  dis- 
pensaries, and  hospitals  in  providing  advice  and  treatment 
for  this  class  of  diseases. 

2.  Support  your  police  department,  district  attorneys, 
and  attorney  general  in  enforcing  the  laws  against  pros- 
titution. 

3.  Support  the  efforts  of  those  organizations  and  indi- 
viduals who  can  wisely  promote  sound  education  on  ques- 
tions of  sex. 

4.  Support  churches  and  moral  agencies  in  more  prac- 
tical appeal  to  the  religious  motive  which  is  deeply  seated 
in  all  of  us. 

5.  Lastly,  let  us  all  bear  in  mind  constantly  that  prosti- 
tution and  venereal  diseases  in  all  their  complexity  and 
sordidness  are  but  the  negative  phases  of  a  larger  prob- 
lem— the  conservation  of  the  race.  Chivalry  toward  the 
future  generations  should  be  an  unanswerable  argument 
for  that  standard  of  personal  conduct  in  sex  matters  which 
civilization  has  developed  through  the  experience  and  suf- 
fering of  past  generations. 


174  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 


KEEPING  THE  SOLDIER  FIT  TO  FIGHT 

MAJOR   BASCOM    JOHNSON,    COMMITTEE   ON   TRAINING   CAMP 

ACTIVITIES 

I  AM  not  going  to  say  anything  about  what  the  Govern- 
ment has  done  to  make  the  soldier  fit  to  fight,  only  what  we 
have  done  to  keep  him  fit.  All  the  military  training  that 
he  has  undergone  in  the  camps ;  all  the  non-military  activi- 
ties that  have  been  undertaken  to  provide  wholesome  recrea- 
tion and  some  social  equivalent  for  the  home  customs  and 
habits  —  all  these  go  to  make  him  an  efficient  fighting 
unit. 

What  I  want  to  bring  to  your  attention  is  the  new  and 
even  revolutionary  work  that  has  been  done  to  keep  the  sol- 
dier during  this  period  of  training,  and  after  he  has  become 
efficient,  free  from  influences  and  conditions  that  would  set 
at  naught  that  training  and  destroy  and  make  utterly  use- 
less the  time,  money,  and  effort  that  have  been  spent  by  the 
Government  on  that  training. 

A  competent  military  authority  has  estimated  that  it 
costs  the  Government  $5,000  to  train,  equip,  and  place  each 
soldier  in  the  trenches.  This  does  not  include  the  non- 
military  activities  such  as  are  being  carried  on  by  the  Red 
Cross  and  the  host  of  activities  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities — such,  for 
instance,  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work,  the  Knights  of  Columbus, 
the  Jewish  organizations,  the  work  under  the  singing  and 
athletic  directors,  the  construction  and  operation  of  camp 
theaters,  the  war  camp  community  work  in  the  cities  out- 
side the  camps,  and  many  others. 

If  all  these  and  other  incidental  expenses  were  added,  the 
total  expense  would,  I  believe,  be  not  far  from  $10,000  per 
soldier.  From  the  point  of  view  of  economy  and  efficiency 
we  as  a  nation  have  a  tremendous  stake  in  every  soldier. 
Entirely  aside  from  personal  and  humanitarian  considera- 
tions, each  soldier  represents  to  the  United  States  a  big 
investment,  which  from  the  most  elementary  considerations 
of  business  judgment  should  be  protected  from  impair- 


KEEPING  THE  SOLDIER  FIT  TO  FIGHT  175 

ment  with  the  most  jealous  care.  The  Government  is  bound 
therefore  to  do  everything  in  its  power  to  protect  the  health 
of  each  young  man  entrusted  to  its  care. 

Among  the  preventable  diseases  there  are  none  more 
damaging  to  the  soldier  and  none  so  easily  prevented  in  the 
vast  majority  of  cases  as  venereal  diseases.  These  diseases 
can  be  practically  eliminated  from  this  country  in  a  short 
time  if  a  simple  and  perfectly  practicable  rule  of  conduct  is 
followed  by  the  people.  That  ideal  is  to  refrain  from  all 
sex  relations  outside  of  marriage.  The  United  States  Gov- 
ernment is  the  first  government  in  the  history  of  the  world 
to  declare  its  belief  in  the  possibility  and  practicability  of 
this  ideal,  and  has  announced  in  no  uncertain  terms  its 
intention  to  require,  as  near  as  may  be,  its  adoption  for  sol- 
diers a  war  emergency  measure. 

It  has  also  undertaken  to  suppress  the  liquor  traffic  to 
soldiers,  because  liquor  is  a  predisposing  cause  of  illicit  sex 
relations  and  is  the  chief  business  ally  of  prostitution.  In 
this  war  crisis  we  had  to  eliminate  every  non-essential  to 
winning  the  war.  Can  any  one  imagine  two  things  less 
essential  to  winning  the  war  than  drinking  liquor  and  con- 
sorting with  prostitutes?  For  soldiers  prostitution  and 
liquor  are  not  only  non-essentials,  but  are  a  deadly  menace 
to  their  health  and  efficiency.  If  the  same  rate  of  venereal 
infection  had  continued  in  our  new  army  as  existed  in  the 
old  army  during  the  year  1916,  we  should  have  had,  out  of 
our  5,000,000  soldiers,  close  to  475,000  men  incapacitated 
during  the  first  year  in  the  war.  The  average  number  of 
days  during  which  men  who  suffer  from  these  diseases  as 
incapacitated  is  estimated  by  the  Surgeon-General's  office 
to  be  eighteen  days,  thus  making  8,550,000  days  of  service 
lost  to  the  country.  In  addition  the  Surgeon  -  General's 
office  estimates  that  25  per  cent  of  the  men  so  infected  are 
permanently  impaired  for  the  most  vigorous  kind  of  service, 
such  as  is  required  in  the  first-line  trenches.  In  figures 
that  means  that  about  118,000  men  would  have  been  lost 
to  the  United  States  as  active  fighting  men  if  the  same 
venereal  rate  had  continued  to  exist  since  the  call  of  the 
new  army. 


176  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

While  it  is  yet  too  early  to  give  comparative  figures,  I 
am  justified  in  saying  that  if  the  same  rate  of  venereal 
infection  continues  as  exists  to-day  in  the  new  army  this 
wastage  will  have  been  cut  nearly  in  half  during  the  first 
year  of  soldiers  in  service.  That  means  in  terms  of  dollars 
that  the  Government's  policy  has  saved  in  dollars  and  cents 
nearly  $600,000,000.  This  is  entirely  aside  from  considera- 
tions of  wastage  in  human  character  and  human  efficiency 
after  the  war  is  over.  It  would  be  much  more  interesting 
to  you  and  much  pleasanter  for  me  to  talk  more  at  length 
to  you  about  our  accomplishments,  but  I  have  come  to  you 
bearing  a  message  and  not  to  pat  you  on  the  back. 

Venereal  disease  and  the  consequent  wastage  in  man 
power  is  not  obtained  in  the  camps.  It  is  a  product  of  com- 
munity life.  My  message  to  you  is  that  the  Government 
will  not  relax  one  iota  in  its  stand  for  a  clean  environment. 
What  have  you  done  and  what  are  you  going  to  do  to 
accomplish  your  share?  Law  enforcement  is  nothing  but 
municipal  house-cleaning.  Municipal  house-cleaning,  like 
domestic  house-cleaning,  is  a  job  that  is  never  finished. 
Those  of  you  who  are  housewives  know  that  domestic 
house-cleaning  is  a  day-by-day,  week-by-week,  and  year-by- 
year  job.  It  is  the  same  way  with  municipal  house-cleaning. 
We  cannot  clean  up  our  cities  and  expect  them  to  remain 
clean.  We  cannot  put  men  in  office  to  enforce  the  laws 
whose  only  qualification  for  the  job  is  that  they  have  never 
been  in  jail  and  expect  to  get  results.  We  Americans  are 
very  much  inclined  to  pass  laws  and  expect  them  to  enforce 
themselves.  That  is  the  reason  why  our  municipal  govern- 
ments are  regarded  by  Europeans  as  way  below  par  in 
economy  and  efficiency.  Not  until  we  select  our  public 
servants  with  the  same  scrupulous  care  and  pay  them  the 
same  grade  of  salaries  that  we  pay  the  managers  of  our 
private  corporations  will  we  obtain  efficient  municipal  gov- 
ernment. Furthermore,  honest  and  efficient  public  servants 
are  constantly  under  pressure  from  those  on  whose  toes 
restrictive  legislation  steps.  The  good  citizen  in  whose 
interest  the  laws  are  passed  rarely,  if  ever,  makes  his  wishes 
known  between  elections.     The  result  is  that  most  pub- 


KEEPING  THE  SOLDIER  FIT  TO  FIGHT  177 

lie  officials  gradually  have  come  to  view  the  enforcement  of 
laws  against  the  social  evil  as  either  unnecessary  or  con- 
trary to  the  wishes  of  their  constituents.  Your  contribu- 
tion to  the  War  and  Navy  Departments  program  should  be 
to  hold  up  the  hands  of  the  honest  and  efficient  public  offi- 
cial and  to  inform  public  opinion  and  bring  that  informed 
public  opinion  to  bear  upon  public  officials  who  are  either 
not  willing  or  able  to  enforce  the  laws. 

There  has  been  some  suggestion  made  here  that  the 
policy  of  the  Government  announced  by  Secretaries  Daniels 
and  Baker  that  red-light  districts  and  easily  accessible  pros- 
titution would  not  be  tolerated  in  the  vicinity  of  Army  and 
Navy  camps  might  be  relaxed.  I  desire  to  state  to  you  offi- 
cially that  this  policy  has  not  been  relaxed  and  will  not  be 
relaxed,  and  that  every  effort  that  the  Government  can  put 
forth  to  protect  the  health  and  efficiency  of  its  troops  and 
of  its  sailors  will  be  put  forth;  that  it  expects  the  citizens 
of  the  community  surrounding  these  camps  to  do  their 
utmost  to  support  this  program  unreservedly  and  in  an  out- 
spoken and  vigorous  fashion.  Whether  you  are  entirely 
convinced  of  the  wisdom  of  this  program  or  not  it  is  your 
duty  as  citizens  to  set  aside  your  personal  prejudices  in  the 
matter  and  to  enter  whole-heartedly  into  every  measure  that 
is  devised  for  the  protection  of  the  troops.  This  program 
has  not  been  entered  into  by  the  Federal  Government  lightly 
or  without  careful  consideration.  It  was  only  adopted  after 
consultation  with  the  foremost  educators,  doctors,  lawyers, 
sociologists,  and  practical  administrators.  The  Secretary 
of  War  himself  was  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Cleveland  before 
he  came  to  Washington.  After  careful  study  of  both  sides 
of  the  question  he  decided  to  abolish  the  district  in  that 
city.  He  knows  the  practical  problems  involved,  and  his 
experience  is  the  experience  of  every  community  where  the 
policy  of  repression  of  prostitution  has  been  given  an  honest 
and  vigorous  trial.  Let  us  not  therefore  waste  any  further 
time  in  discussing  the  pros  and  cons  of  this  age-old  ques- 
tion, but  get  behind  it  with  all  our  power.  The  Surgeon- 
General  of  the  Army  regards  law  enforcement  as  his  first 
line  of  defense  against  venereal  disease.    He  has  therefore, 

12 


178  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

as  a  part  of  his  preventive  medicine  program,  appointed 
a  number  of  lawyers  in  the  sanitary  corps  and  detailed  them 
to  the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities  to  stimulate 
law  enforcement  in  the  communities  surrounding  the  various 
camps. 

We  are  counting  on  you  to  help  conserve  our  fighting 
men  and  help  keep  them  fit  to  fight. 


IV.    JUSTICE  FOR  ALL 


The  Program  of  the  Master  Workman 

Vitalizing  the  Law 

Mob  Violence — An  Enemy  of  Both  Races 

The  Causes,  Consequences,  and  Cure  of  Mob  Violence 

Race  Distinctions  Versus  Race  Discriminations 


THE  PROGRAM  OF  THE  MASTER  WORKMAN 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me, 

Because  he  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to 

the  poor: 
He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives, 
And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind. 
To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised, 
To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.   • 


Jesus  went  about  all  the  cities  and  the  villages, 
teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gos- 
pel of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  all  manner  of  dis- 
ease and  all  manner  of  sickness.  But  when  he  saw 
the  multitudes,  he  was  moved  with  compassion  for 
them,  because  they  were  distressed  and  scattered, 
as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd.  Then  saith  he 
unto  his  disciples,  The  harvest  indeed  is  plenteous, 
but  the  laborers  are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth  laborers  into 

his  harvest. 

*         *         * 

These  twelve  Jesus  sent  forth,  and  charged  them, 
saying.  Go  not  into  any  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
enter  not  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans:  but  go 
rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  And 
as  ye  go,  preach,  saying.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand.  Heal  the  sick,  raise  the  dead,  cleanse  the 
lepers,  cast  out  demons;  freely  ye  received,  freely 
give. 


VITALIZING  THE  LAW 

JUDGE   W.   B.   TURNER 

The  judges  of  our  courts  having  criminal  jurisdiction 
have  fairly  interpreted  their  duties  and  have  fairly  per- 
formed them  within  the  light  of  past  circumstances  and 
development.  But  this  is  a  transitional  period.  We  are 
endeavoring  to  develop  higher  standards  of  life  and  living, 
and  in  doing  this  the  courts  should  be  made  more  useful 
than  they  have  been  in  the  past. 

In  many  instances  the  public  officers  proceed  with  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  and  the  punishment  of  violators 
without  waiting  on  or  considering  the  individual  citizen; 
but  in  a  very  large  number  of  cases  they  wait,  and  in  many 
must  wait,  for  some  individual  to  appear  and  prosecute. 
This  causes  the  courts  to  act  at  the  instance  of  two  forces — 
one  in  which  the  public  moves  through  its  accredited  rep- 
resentatives, and  the  other  where  the  citizen  makes  use  of 
the  courts  in  enforcing  some  law  primarily  for  his  own 
benefit  and  incidentally  for  the  public  good.  If  public  inter- 
est is  lacking  in  any  law,  it  usually  dies,  because  the  citizen 
will  not  enforce  it  and  the  officers  are  greatly  handicapped 
in  doing  so.  For  this  reason  large  numbers  of  bad  laws  and 
a  great  many  good  ones  have  become  obsolete. 

Now,  what  can  be  done  to  vitalize  these  good  laws  and 
put  life  and  vigor  into  all  that  class  of  law  that  has  been 
enacted  to  better  social  conditions?  Happily,  we  are  enter- 
ing upon  an  era  in  which  we  shall  consider  more  important 
those  laws  that  tend  to  affect  our  health  and  happiness  than 
those  that  protect  our  property.  The  time  has  been  when 
we  regarded  as  more  important  the  laws  of  larceny  and 
robbery  than  any  health  law.  We  would  fight  the  chicken 
thief  at  the  back  door  with  great  vigor,  while  prevent- 
able disease  and  death  entered  at  the  front  unnoticed.  It 
is  all  right  to  enforce  and  observe  all  laws  to  protect  prop- 
erty, but  we  should  bear  in  mind  constantly  that  it  is  far 
better  to  enforce  those  laws  that  prevent  disease,  improve 
home  life,  community  spirit,  and  social  conditions. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  a  very  large  per  cent  of  the 
diseases  that  afflict  mankind  are  preventable.     It  is  also 


182  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

knowTi  that  a  large  per  cent  of  the  crimes  committed  are 
the  result  of  economic  conditions,  and,  further,  that  a  very 
large  part  of  mental  and  moral  degradation  is  due  to  envi- 
ronment and  social  conditions.  Disease,  crime,  and  moral 
degradation  are  the  great  blights  upon  the  human  family, 
bringing  death,  disgrace,  and  despair.  These  are  all  largely 
preventable.  Being  preventable,  we  should  direct  our  utmost 
energies  to  prevent  these  conditions,  as  well  as  cure  them 
after  they  arise. 

We  have  had  for  a  long  time  what  we  term  the  science 
of  the  law.  In  brief,  this  refers  to  the  understanding  of  the 
law,  skill  in  pleading,  and  readiness  in  its  forms.  The 
science  of  the  law  should  be  interpreted  to  include  a  scien- 
tific knowledge,  on  the  part  of  those  who  administer  it,  of 
the  reasons  and  objects  of  the  law.  Through  the  efforts  of 
various  organizations  many  laws  founded  upon  scientific 
principles  are  now  being  written  upon  our  statute  books,  and 
especially  is  this  true  of  all  that  body  of  law  enacted  to 
better  social  conditions  throughout  the  country. 

Many  of  these  laws,  to  the  uninformed,  appear  unneces- 
sary, useless,  and  oppressive.  Many  of  them  are  for  this 
reason  openly  opposed  and  disobeyed.  Proper  instruction 
and  information  would  remedy  this  and  put  life  and  force 
into  a  law  that  must  without  it  die  and  be  forgotten.  The 
Southern  Sociological  Congress,  governmental  agencies,  and 
various  institutions  are  doing  a  great  work  in  giving  proper 
instruction  and  disseminating  knowledge.  All  this  is  having 
a  wholesome  effect.  The  inferior  courts,  that  come  in  direct 
contact  with  the  people  in  the  administration  of  the  law, 
can  and  should  become  instrumental  in  a  forcible  way  in 
carrying  on  this  great  work. 

In  almost  all  jurisdictions,  at  the  beginning  of  each  term, 
the  presiding  judge  is  called  upon  to  charge  or  instruct  the 
grand  jury  in  regard  to  the  duty  imposed  upon  its  members. 
The  presiding  judge  can  here  exert  his  best  influence  in 
vitalizing  constructive  laws.  He  is  probably  not  required 
to  do  more  than  state  to  them  the  law  and  the  duty  of  the 
jury  with  reference  thereto.  He  often  contents  himself 
with  this.     In  doing  this  it  is  his  privilege  to  determine 


VITALIZING  THE  LAW  183 

which  shall  be  emphasized  as  most  needing  attention.  In 
many  counties,  especially  the  more  backward,  the  people 
assemble  to  hear  this  charge,  to  ascertain  the  law  that 
affects  them  most,  and  then  return  to  their  homes  to  dis- 
seminate their  knowledge.  Those  laws  which  curtail  his 
privileges  affect  a  citizen  most,  and  it  is  to  these  that  he 
gives  attention,  either  to  support  or  oppose.  If  the  average 
citizen  can  see  nothing  more  in  a  law  than  oppression  and 
interference  with  his  accustomed  course  in  life,  he  will 
ignore  and  oppose  it. 

The  judge  who  instructs  the  grand  jury  in  the  presence 
of  the  people  and  county  officers  should  know  more  about 
the  social  improvement  laws  than  their  mere  provisions. 
He  should  understand  the  underlying  scientific  principles 
and  explain  them  to  the  people.  The  judge  often  has  it  in 
his  power  to  explain  to  the  grand  jury  and  to  the  people 
the  existing  evils,  the  scientific  causes,  and  the  legal 
remedies.  By  an  intelligent  and  lucid  explanation  of  a  new 
law,  the  people  are  often  won  over  to  its  support,  and  are 
made  advocates  of  it  rather  than  obstructionists. 

This  Congress  and  other  organizations  are  doing  a  great 
deal  to  instruct  the  people;  but  when  the  explanations  and 
reasons  come  from  the  same  source  that  administers  punish- 
ment for  disobedience,  it  falls  with  greater  force  and  makes 
a  more  lasting  impression. 

Before  I  was  elected  to  the  office  of  Circuit  Judge  the 
law  in  regard  to  the  control  and  extinction  of  the  Texas 
fever  tick  went  into  effect.  In  a  certain  county  of  my  State 
these  laws,  and  the  regulations  based  thereon,  met  with 
great  opposition,  and  for  a  year  or  so  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  enforce  them.  To  the  average  citizen,  it 
seemed  absurd  to  require  him  to  keep  up  his  cattle  on 
account  of  a  tick  or  to  prevent  him  from  shipping  them, 
and  to  require  that  they  be  dipped.  They  did  not  under- 
stand the  questions  involved.  To  enforce  the  law  entailed 
expense  and  trouble.  The  people  were  largely  disregarding 
it.  In  charging  or  instructing  the  grand  jury  in  that  county, 
the  presiding  judge  not  only  informed  them  as  to  the  details 
of  the  law,  but  also  as  to  the  scientific  reasons  for  it,  and 


184  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

how  and  why  the  observance  of  these  laws  and  rules  would 
remove  the  trouble  and  result  in  important  financial  gains. 
The  people  were  given  to  understand  that  laws  were  not 
enacted  or  enforced  merely  to  annoy  and  harass  the  people, 
but  solely  for  their  good.  A  trained  scientist  was  then 
permitted  to  go  into  the  grand  jury  room  with  such  exhibits 
as  he  desired  and  further  explain  to  them  how  these  insects 
multiplied,  how  they  produced  disease,  and  how  they  could 
soon  be  exterminated.  Then  followed  one  prosecution  of 
an  offender  to  conviction,  and  the  work  was  done.  Those 
who  had  opposed  the  law,  now,  understanding  it,  became 
its  advocates. 

When  the  vital  statistics  law  was  enacted,  it  met  with 
much  opposition  in  some  sections,  some  advocating  open 
non-observance.  The  reasons  for  this  law,  the  objects  to 
be  attained,  its  great  value  to  the  people,  especially  the 
country  people,  were  explained  by  the  court,  and  the  law 
soon  met  with  popular  approval  and  is  being  generally 
observed. 

In  Tennessee  we  have  a  law  requiring  that  animals  dying 
of  contagious  disease  shall  be  burned,  and  also  a  law  pro- 
hibiting the  pollution  of  streams.  The  observance  of  these 
laws  entails  some  expense,  and  the  people  are  likely  to  dis- 
regard them  as  an  unnecessary  restriction  and  trouble. 
When  they  are  made  to  see  from  an  authoritative  source 
that  these  laws  were  enacted  for  their  protection  rather 
t^an  to  oppress  them,  they  observe  them  and  demand  the 
protection  which  they  give. 

We  have  in  many  States  laws  to  protect  the  health  of 
domestic  animals,  to  regulate  the  distribution  of  habit- 
forming  and  injurious  drugs;  to  regulate  food-producing 
establishments,  such  as  dairies,  butcher  shops,  bakeries,  and 
creameries;  and  laws  and  rules  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
contagious  diseases  and  to  promote  and  improve  the  gen- 
eral social  conditions  and  standards  of  living.  When  it  is 
made  known  through  an  authoritative  source  that  by  the 
observance  of  these  laws  the  average  length  of  life  has  been 
greatly  lengthened,  that  sickness  and  untold  suffering  have 
been  prevented,  the  people  become  more  interested  and 
awake  to  their  importance. 


MOB  VIOLENCE — AN   ENEMY  OF  BOTH   RACES  185 

If  sheriffs,  deputies,  constables,  and  other  officers  are 
present  in  court  and  are  instructed,  not  only  in  these  laws, 
but  the  underlying  reasons,  they  can  be  of  great  assistance 
in  enforcing  them.  It  is  better  for  officials  to  stimulate 
observance  and  prevent  offenses  than  to  wait  until  the 
offense  has  occurred  and  then  punish  the  offender.  With 
respect  to  this  great  class  of  laws,  all  officers  should  assume 
the  attitude  that  it  is  far  better  to  prevent  than  to  punish 
offenders. 

For  a  long  time  the  laws  protecting  property  have  been 
given  first  place  in  our  consideration;  whereas  those  laws 
that  affect  life,  health,  happiness,  and  social  conditions 
should  have  first  place  in  our  efforts.  They  are  the  laws  by 
which  we  live.  They  are  the  vital  laws,  vital  to  our  very 
existence.  The  time  has  come  when  the  courts  should  recog- 
nize their  importance  and  give  first  place  to  them  because  of 
the  immediate  and  direct  results  that  may  be  expected  in 
improved  health,  increased  property,  and  higher  standards, 
both  moral  and  social.  Then  as  these  conditions  improve 
the  secondary  results  will  be  the  lessening  of  poverty,  want, 
degradation,  moral  degeneracy,  and  crime.  By  vitalizing 
these  laws  we  serve  a  double  purpose  and  greatly  increase 
the  usefulness  of  our  institutions. 


MOB  VIOLENCE  —  AN  ENEMY  OF  BOTH  RACES 

PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  0.  SCROGGS,  PH.D.,  LOTTISIANA  STATE 
UNIVERSITY,  BATON  ROUGE,  LA. 

To  denounce  mob  violence  at  long  distance,  as  I  shall 
do  to-day,  is  an  easy  undertaking;  yet  even  in  this  particu- 
lar too  many  of  us  have  fallen  short  of  our  plain  duty.  Our 
newspapers,  it  is  true,  have  spoken  freely  and  coura- 
geously ;  but  the  voice  of  the  clergy  has  been  feeble,  and  the 
voice  of  men  in  my  own  profession — ^the  teaching  profes- 
sion— has  been  feebler  still.  It  must  be  admitted,  too,  that 
the  voice  of  a  few  men,  wrongly  called  public  leaders,  has 
been  heard  on  the  other  side.  I  venture  to  assert,  how- 
ever, that  in  this  entire  audience  there  is  not  a  single 
active  advocate  of  mob  violence  in  the  form  in  which  it 


186  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

most  frequently  occurs  in  our  Southern  States.  Practi- 
cally all  of  our  enlightened  citizens  are  at  least  passive 
opponents  of  this  form  of  lawlessness.  To-day  the  crime 
of  lynching  in  nearly  every  case  is  committed  by  a  very 
small  proportion  of  a  community,  but  its  respectable  and 
law-abiding  citizens  are  in  no  small  degree  responsible 
when  a  mob  riot  occurs.  Too  often  they  have  sat  silent, 
dignified,  and  lethargic  and  have  allowed  the  ignorant,  the 
idle,  and  the  vicious  to  usurp  the  power  they  are  unfit  to 
wield  and  to  strike  at  the  very  foundations  of  law  and 
civilization.  Since  each  of  us  plays  some  part  in  the  devel- 
opment of  that  public  sentiment  which  makes  for  or  against 
the  rule  of  the  mob,  we  cannot  escape  the  logic  of  the  con- 
clusion that  none  of  us  is  wholly  free  from  blame  for  the 
evil  of  mob  violence  in  our  country. 

There  are  times  indeed  when  the  mob  has  exerted  itself 
more  eflTectively  for  justice  than  has  the  corrupt  or  inef- 
ficient or  tyrannical  government  which  has  sought  to 
restrain  its  activities.  The  mob  that  stormed  the  Bastille, 
for  example,  was  furthering  the  cause  of  civilization.  In- 
stances of  this  kind,  however,  occur  only  at  rare  intervals 
of  history,  and  even  in  such  cases  the  desirable  results  are 
achieved  at  enormous  social  cost.  Mob  law  at  its  best  is 
a  heroic  remedy,  like  a  major  surgical  operation,  to  be 
resorted  to  only  when  all  other  measures  have  proved  inef- 
fective and  society  is  in  imminent  danger  of  disintegra- 
tion. In  times  of  war  or  rebellion,  when  the  normal  modes 
of  judicial  procedure  are  impracticable,  summary  and  extra- 
legal methods  of  dealing  with  serious  offenses  may  be  justi- 
fied. In  like  manner,  in  frontier  communities,  where  the 
law  is  still  in  its  swaddling  clothes,  something  closely  akin 
to  the  methods  of  Judge  Lynch  may  be  necessary  as  a  pre- 
ventive of  anarchy.  No  one  can  truthfully  say,  however, 
that  we  are  confronted  with  any  such  conditions  to-day. 

Nevertheless,  self-seeking  politicians  have  at  times 
brazenly  championed  the  cause  of  the  lyncher,  whom  they 
depict  as  the  defender  of  womankind.  Such  tactics  un- 
doubtedly offer  a  means  of  winning  the  support  of  certain 


MOB  VIOLENCE — AN   ENEMY  OF  BOTH  RACES  187 

classes  of  voters,  but  the  prevailing  idea  that  lynchings  are 
mainly  a  result  of  crimes  against  women  is  wholly  erro- 
neous. Such  crimes  are  not  now  and  never  have  been  the 
chief  incentive  to  mob  violence.  They  have  been  only  an 
excuse  for  mob  violence.  Lynch  law  had  its  origin  in  com- 
munities lacking  an  organized  government;  it  was  at  first 
the  only  law  to  which  an  outraged  citizen  body  could  appeal ; 
it  did  not  defy  existing  law,  but  was  only  a  substitute  for 
a  better  law  yet  to  come.  It  was  a  corrective  of  defects 
in  an  inchoate  society.  It  should  be  noted,  too,  that  in  its 
early  stages  lynch  law  was  uncontaminated  with  race  preju- 
dice, and  was  employed  mainly  against  white  offenders. 
To-day,  however,  the  frontier  has  vanished;  the  machinery 
of  justice  is  everywhere  available,  and  lynching  no  longer 
consists  in  the  meting  out  of  justice  by  private  citizens 
in  default  of  public  law. 

Let  us  examine  the  stock  arguments  now  advanced  by 
the  upholders  of  mob  law.  Briefly  stated,  they  are:  first, 
that  it  prevents  crime,  and  especially  crimes  against  wom- 
anhood, by  securing  the  widest  publicity  for  the  terrible 
I>enalty  that  follows  the  commission  of  such  revolting  deeds ; 
secondly,  that  it  does  away  with  the  law's  delay  and  imposes 
the  penalty  at  the  very  moment  when  the  community  is 
keenly  alive  to  the  enormity  of  the  offense  and  the  lesson 
is  most  likely  to  be  driven  home;  and  lastly,  that  it  spares 
the  victim  of  atrocious  crime  the  trying  ordeal  of  reciting 
the  details  in  a  crowded  court  room. 

A  careful  study  of  the  facts  fails  to  substantiate  a  single 
one  of  these  defenses.  In  the  first  place,  far  from  acting 
as  a  preventive  of  crime,  lynching  tends  actually  to  increase 
it.  It  defeats  the  very  object  at  which  it  expressly  aims. 
It  does  not  prevent  ravishing.  Assaults  upon  women  have 
frequently  been  repeated  in  neighborhoods  where  a  mob 
had  only  recently  dealt  with  a  previous  offender.  Instead 
of  checking  wrongdoing,  mob  violence  is  apt  to  arouse  a 
morbid  state  of  mind  that  tends  to  manifest  itself  in  anti- 
social acts.    By  provoking  irritation,  suspicion,  and  bitter- 


188  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

ness  between  the  races,  it  only  fertilizes  the  soil  for  a  larger 
crop  of  lawlessness. 

In  substantiation  of  this  statement,  I  beg  leave  to  quote 
a  few  extracts  adapted  from  the  newspaper  reports  of  a 
lynching  that  occurred  in  one  of  our  neighboring  States 
some  years  ago.  The  grewsome  details  are  not  recited  in 
any  muckraking  spirit,  but  are  reproduced  for  the  purpose 
of  showing  the  fearful  extremes  to  which  a  mob  will  go. 
This  is  how  the  story  reads:  "The  cowering,  shivering 
wretch,  whose  face  was  a  picture  of  agony  and  terror,  was 
taken  from  a  wagon  and  forced  up  the  steps,  where  he 
was  pinioned  to  a  stake.  His  coat  and  shirt  were  torn  off 
him  piece  by  piece  and  thrown  among  the  crowd,  where 
they  were  eagerly  seized  as  relics.  When  he  was  stripped 
to  the  waist,  they  began  to  thrust  red-hot  irons  under  his 
feet.  Every  contortion  of  his  body  and  every  groan  that 
escaped  his  lips  brought  forth  shouts  of  approval.  Vainly 
he  begged  for  mercy.  The  red-hot  irons  burned  into  his 
flesh  deeper  and  deeper,  and  he  uttered  terrible  cries. 
.  .  .  The  crowd  gazed  on  the  scene  with  a  horrible  fasci- 
nation, as  the  slow  process  of  torture  proceeded.  The 
climax  was  reached  when  the  irons  were  thrust  into  his 
eyes,  burning  the  balls  away.  Then  they  were  thrust  into 
his  throat,  and  still  he  lived  and  writhed  and  suffered." 

This  is  not  a  story  of  Rome  in  the  days  of  Nero,  but  an 
account  of  an  act  committed  in  a  modern  American  com- 
munity which  boasts  its  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  and  its 
Christian  ideals.  Who  can  portray  the  brutalizing  effect 
of  this  deed  upon  those  who  perpetrated  it  and  its  degrad- 
ing influence  upon  the  community  in  which  such  scenes 
were  enacted?  Yet  this  terrible  punishment  did  not  put 
an  end  to  crime  within  that  State.  In  the  following  year 
the  number  of  mob  murders  within  its  borders  increased 
twenty-five  per  cent,  while  the  next  year  brought  a  further 
increase  of  seventy  per  cent.  One  crime  does  not  prevent 
another.  It  has  become  almost  a  truism  that  cruel  and 
unusual  punishment,  instead  of  deterring  crime,  serves 
rather  to  increase  it.    If  punishment  is  to  deter  the  would- 


MOB  VIOLENCE — AN   ENEMY  OF  BOTH   RACES  189 

be  criminal,  it  must  be  prompt  and  sure,  not  actuated  by 
the  spirit  of  revenge,  devoid  of  degrading  effects  upon  the 
pubhc,  and  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  land. 
In  none  of  these  particulars  save,  perhaps,  that  of  prompt- 
ness, does  lynching  meet  the  canons  of  modern  penology. 

Not  only  is  lynching  no  preventive  of  cnmes  against 
wome7i,  but  statistics  prove  that  only  one  time  in  four  are 
such  crimes  the  cause  of  lynching.  In  1915  only  sixteen 
per  cent  of  the  persons  lynched  were  charged  with  crimes 
against  womanhood.  But  even  if  all  the  lynchings  were 
the  result  of  such  crimes  mob  law  would  still  not  be  justi- 
fied. For  who  constitute  the  mob?  Since  frontier  days 
the  quality  of  the  mob  has  greatly  deteriorated,  and  to-day 
it  generally  consists  of  the  worst  elements  of  a  community. 
By  what  right  does  this  degraded  mass  of  humanity  con- 
stitute itself  the  guardian  of  virtue?  Have  we  fallen  to 
such  low  estate  that  woman's  honor  can  be  avenged  only 
by  such  as  these?  Is  our  civilization  to  be  vindicated  by 
a  group  of  frenzied  "rounders"  suddenly  transformed  into 
savages  ? 

With  regard  to  the  claim  that  mob  violence  prevents 
the  law's  delay  it  may  be  said  that  the  law's  delay  is  not 
for  the  poor  criminal,  be  he  white  or  black.  The  law's 
delay  is  the  luxury  of  the  rich  and  influential.  The  guilty 
negro  in  our  courts  rarely  escapes  conviction;  indeed,  ho 
usually  receives  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  mob  often  makes  mistakes  and  wreaks  its 
vengeance  on  the  innocent,  while  the  real  offender  goes 
free.  In  1915  four  innocent  persons  fell  victims  to  the 
fury  of  the  mob. 

In  answer,  next,  to  the  contention  that  the  mob  saves 
the  victim  of  the  crime  from  humiliating  publicity,  it  may 
be  stated  that  this  argument  is  entirely  inconsistent  with 
the  one  which  would  justify  mob  violence  on  the  ground 
that  the  wide  publicity  given  to  the  terrible  punishment 
has  a  deterring  influence.  It  is  a  deplorable  fact  that  when 
a  ravisher  is  hanged  or  burned  at  the  stake  his  name  and 
that  of  his  victim  are  coupled  together  and  telegraphed  to 


190  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

every  section  of  the  country.  This  certainly  does  not  shield 
outraged  womanhood,  and  it  would  not  occur  if  the  crimi- 
nal were  dealt  with  by  lawful  methods.  It  is  always  prac- 
ticable to  conduct  the  trial  of  this  class  of  offenders  with 
the  utmost  regard  for  the  feelings  of  the  unfortunate  vic- 
tim ;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  many  of  those  who  join 
the  mob  ostensibly  to  shield  violated  innocence  would  be 
the  first  to  clamor  for  admission  to  the  court  room,  where 
they  would  stare  at  the  chief  witness  with  morbid  curiosity, 
and,  like  buzzards  after  carrion,  eagerly  devour  every  mor- 
sel of  the  unclean  evidence. 

The  foregoing  facts  fully  justify  the  conclusion  that 
mob  violence  to-day  is  utterly  without  excuse,  inimical  to 
the  progress  of  civilization,  and  a  crime  against  society. 
In  attempting  to  show  wherein  it  is  an  enemy  of  both  races, 
I  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  specify  wherein  it  is 
injurious  to  whites  and  wherein  it  is  injurious  to  blacks. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  show  that  it  is  injurious  to  humanity. 
The  evils  resulting  from  mob  riots  may  eventually  affect 
us  in  ways  that  we  do  not  now  suspect.  Violence  by  groups 
tends  to  beget  violence  by  individuals,  and  thence  by  whole 
republics.  If  fifty  or  a  hundred  men  can  put  themselves 
above  the  law  with  impunity,  the  time  may  come  when 
one  man  or  a  nation  may  do  likewise.  If  we  tolerate 
anarchy  in  dealing  with  criminals,  the  time  may  come  when 
we  shall  have  to  tolerate  it  in  other  matters. 

The  mob  exercises  absolute  power  ivithout  incurring 
an  iota  of  the  responsibility  that  should  always  accompany 
the  exercise  of  power.  Mob  law  means  government  by  pas- 
sion, the  worst  possible  government  that  can  be  devised; 
it  results  in  the  supplanting  of  reason  and  judgment  by  the 
emotional  insanity  of  the  crowd;  it  creates  intense  racial 
hatred,  and  thus  works  to  the  grave  injury  of  both  whites 
and  blacks.  "It  is  the  duty  of  all  good  people,"  says  a 
noted  Southern  bishop,  "in  all  parts  of  this  country  to 
unite  in  putting  down  the  mob.  For  let  us  be  well  assured 
that  the  good  people  will  put  down  the  mob  or  the  mob  will 
put  down  the  good  people." 


CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  CURE  OF  MOB  VIOLENCE        191 


THE  CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  AND  CURE  OF  MOB 

VIOLENCE 

CHARLES  M.  BISHOP,  D.D.,  PRESIDENT  SOUTHWESTERN  UNIVER- 
SITY, GEORGETOWN,  TEX. 

THE  CAUSES 

The  causes  for  the  blot  of  mob  violence  upon  our  civili- 
zation— this  series  of  hideous  crimes  which  shames  our 
Christian  pretensions  and  stultifies  our  social  conscience — 
are  numerous  and  complex.  Some  of  them  run  back  into  the 
obscure  sources  of  our  biological  inheritance,  the  resurgence 
of  brutal  instincts  and  revenge,  the  triumph  over  us  of  that 
which  we  call  uncontrollable  passion.  Some  of  them  are 
found  in  that  deep-seated  sentiment,  almost  as  ancient  as  the 
other,  but  maintained  and  strengthened  by  modern  conven- 
tionalities, which  we  call  race  antipathy.  Others  of  them 
are  more  open  to  common  observation  and  lie  within  the 
range  of  more  simple  comprehension.  These  we  may  list 
under  a  broad  analysis,  as  Historical,  Psychological,  and 
Legal,  remembering  that  all  the  phases  blend  in  every  con- 
crete case. 

HistoHcal. — There  were  a  few  instances  of  the  lynching 
of  negroes  before  the  Civil  War,  but  not  many.  The  war 
itself,  with  the  breakdown  of  the  social  institutions  which 
had  constituted  our  civilization,  and  the  change  in  the  rela- 
tion of  whites  and  blacks  not  only  induced  a  somewhat  gen- 
eral state  of  lawlessness,  but  put  an  end  to  the  kindly  human 
sentiments  between  the  two  races.  Then  the  nightmare  of 
Reconstruction  made  anarchy  inevitable,  solidified  the  races 
against  each  other,  and  raised  one  question  in  the  South 
which  overshadowed  every  other:  Should  the  blacks  rule 
in  ignorant  lawlessness,  the  tools  of  evil  politicians  v^^ho 
planned  the  further  and  final  ruin  of  the  South?  or  should 
the  whites  rule  in  conscious  defiance  of  law,  saving  their 
land  and  what  remained  of  their  cherished  institutions  for 
their  own  children  and  later  descendants,  and  leaving  the 
negro  to  make  the  most  he  could  out  of  the  situation  for 
himself?     The  whites  decided  upon  the  latter  course,  to 


192  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

which  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  they  felt  they  were  compelled 
by  considerations  higher  than  the  sanctity  of  any  law  which 
the  party  in  power  would  or  did  make.  But  this  not  only 
completely  separated  the  two  races  from  each  other,  but 
fixed  them  in  a  relation  which  had  been  determined  by  vio- 
lation of  law,  and  which  was  maintained  by  a  theory  that 
the  law  as  then  understood  should  not  and  did  not  apply  to 
the  numbers  of  both  races  alike.  Thus  lawlessness,  or  an 
attitude  of  denial  and  defiance  of  law,  became  an  irremov- 
able element  in  the  antagonism  of  the  races.  Neither  race 
has  since  that  period  been  willing  to  acquiesce  in  a  system 
of  laws  which  would  be  acceptable  to  the  other,  or  grant  to 
the  other  what  the  other  would  regard  as  justice.  And 
with  both  races  such  phrases  as  the  "dignity  of  the  law," 
the  "inviolability  of  law,"  have  lost  their  usual  sanctity  of 
meaning  as  applied  by  either  to  the  other.  To  some  extent 
each  considers  the  other  outside  the  pale  of  the  law.  This 
is  somewhat  illustrated  in  the  attitude  of  the  average  negro 
toward  certain  property  rights  of  the  white  man;  and  of 
the  white  man  toward  the  question  of  the  political  rights 
of  the  negro.  The  white  man  denies  the  franchise  to  the 
negro  because  he  is  a  negro;  and  the  negro — at  any  rate 
many  individuals  among  them — regards  theft  from  a  white 
man  as  no  stain  to  his  soul  or  infraction  of  his  honor. 

This  tendency  of  each  race  to  outlaw  the  other  ha^  had 
its  most  revolting  and  violent  illustration  in  the  crime  of 
rape  on  the  part  of  the  negro  and  of  lynching  on  the  part 
of  the  white  man.  These  reciprocal  crimes  have  of  course 
widened  the  breach  between  the  races  and  led  to  still  more 
open  defiance  of  the  law  as  applicable  in  all  respects  equally 
to  members  of  the  different  races. 

Psychological  Causes. — The  crime  which  first  led  to  the 
lynching  of  a  negro  by  a  mob  is  the  most  horrible  and 
bestial  known  to  mankind.  The  awful  terror  which  the 
thought  of  the  mere  possibility  of  it  excites  in  the  mind  of 
the  gentlewoman  is  the  most  horrible  which  she  can  pos- 
sibly experience.  And  the  infuriation  and  hate  which  it 
arouses  in  the  mind  of  her  male  protector  and  friend  is  the 


CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  CURE  OF  MOB  VIOLENCE        193 

most  violent  he  can  feel.  No  one  can  treat  the  subject 
justly  who  does  not  recognize  these  facts.  I  have  some- 
times seen  hints  by  stupid  critics  which  tended  to  belittle 
the  reality  and  intensity  of  these  instinctive  feelings.  It 
is  evident  that  some  earnest  negro  writers  do  not  clearly 
understand  their  significance.  The  violent  outrage  of 
woman  is  the  most  damnable  of  all  crimes  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  victim  and  the  friends  of  the  victim.  But 
when  the  criminal  is  black  and  the  victim  an  innocent  white 
woman  it  is  many  times  more  horrible.  The  strongest 
words  in  human  language  can  only  faintly  hint  the  incur- 
able repulsion  and  shame  and  agony  and  hate  which  are 
thus  aroused.  Here,  lying  deep  and  hidden  in  instincts 
and  sentiments  which  our  wills  have  never  learned  to  con- 
trol nor  our  minds  to  fathom,  is  the  main  original  source 
or  cause  of  the  murder  of  criminal  negroes  by  mobs  of 
white  men.  And  in  this  hereditary  psychology  of  the 
white  man  is  the  explanation  of  the  fact  that  no  partici- 
pant in  the  execution  by  the  mob  of  a  negro  guilty  of  this 
crime  has  ever  been  known  to  express  any  feeling  of  regret 
or  shame  for  his  own  violation  of  the  law  in  that  case. 
The  human  capacity  for  repentance  does  not  seem  to  go  as 
deep  into  the  very  roots  of  being  as  these  instincts  lie.  I 
am  giving  rather  strong  statement  to  this  psychological 
aspect  of  the  case  simply  because  the  honest  study  of  the 
question  requires  it,  and  not  for  one  moment  to  condone 
the  work  of  the  mob.  But  the  leaders  of  our  negro  fellow- 
men  must  be  brought  to  some  apprehension  of  the  tre- 
mendous weight  and  meaning  of  these  facts;  and  I  regret 
to  say  that  I  have  seen  but  little  evidence  of  any  earnest 
attempt  upon  the  part  of  their  preachers  and  teachers  and 
other  leaders  persistently  to  impress  the  mind  of  their  race 
with  the  hideousness  of  this  crime,  hi  fact,  the  members 
of  each  race  have  spent  their  strength  in  the  condemnation 
of  the  sins  or  crimes  of  the  other. 

Legal  Causes. — I  use  this  phrase  very  broadly  to  desig- 
nate those  defects  in  the  law  and  in  its  execution  which 
have  operated  as  provocative  causes  of  mob  violence;  and 
I  shall  briefly  mention  them,  without  prolonged  discussion. 
13 


194  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

1.  What  seem  to  the  laymen  as  the  unnecessary  delays 
of  the  law  have  had  large  place  in  the  public  mind  in 
more  recent  years  as  a  justifying  reason  for  the  resort  to 
mob  law. 

2.  The  effect  of  technical  errors  upon  court  decisions 
and  the  further  delay  and  often  the  complete  miscarriage 
of  justice  thus  occasioned  have  also  been  extremely  irritat- 
ing and  have  added  to  the  weight  of  reasons  which  have 
swayed  the  judgment  of  the  otherwise  law-abiding  citizen. 
After  a  most  revolting  instance  of  public  lynching  in  Texas 
last  year,  in  which  there  was  no  possible  doubt  of  the  guilt 
of  the  man  accused,  an  honest  farmer  was  heard  to  express 
his  approval  of  the  horrible  community  crime  upon  the 
ground  that  the  misplacing  of  a  comma  here  and  there  in 
the  court  record  would  probably  have  led,  after  long  delay 
and  great  expense,  to  the  remanding  of  the  case  by  the 
Court  of  Appeals  for  new  trial,  making  possible  the  final 
escape  of  the  criminal. 

3.  There  are  many  thoughtful  people  who  regard  our 
present  legal  machinery  and  modes  of  procedure  as  dan- 
gerously defective  for  dealing  both  with  the  crime  of  out- 
rage upon  women  and  with  murder  by  the  mob.  And  the 
distrust  and  disrespect  thus  created  act  as  contributing 
causes  to  mob  violence. 

4.  Moreover  the  inefficiency  and  cowardice  and  often 
the  connivance  of  petty  officials  elected  or  permitted  to  be 
elected  by  us  have,  in  many  instances,  actually  encouraged 
the  mob  in  its  dastardly  designs. 

CONSEQUENCES 

The  consequences  following  this  long  reign  of  mob  law 
in  the  South  have  been  so  terrible  and  widespread,  so  insid- 
ious and  yet  so  fatally  ruinous  to  many  of  the  higher  inter- 
ests of  our  civilization,  that  it  is  quite  depressing  even  to 
think  of  them.  Indeed  many  of  our  people  have  refused 
to  think  of  them,  and  some  of  our  would-be  leaders  have 
misrepresented  and  denied  them.  The  moral  and  social 
disease  of  which  it  is  both  a  symptom  and  a  cause,  like 
some  of  the  most  fearful  of  physical  diseases,  has  been  its 
own  anaesthetic,  and  the  slowly  decaying  patient  is  in  dan- 


CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  CURE  OF  MOB  VIOLENCE       195 

ger  of  a  giddy  optimism  which  regards  his  bed  of  death 
as  the  restful  couch  of  his  own  luxurious  health.  Perhaps 
only  the  trained  criminologist  and  the  student  of  social 
psychology',  and  those  whom  they  have  taught,  can  rightly 
apprehend  the  awful  deterioration  of  our  moral  and  civil 
life  which  we  have  already  suffered  and  the  further  danger 
with  which  we  are  threatened. 

1.  The  prevalence  of  mob  violence  has  dulled  the  con- 
science of  us  all  with  reference  to  the  sacredness  of  human 
life  and  the  majesty  and  sanctity  of  laws  which  are  older 
than  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  which  have  been  at  the 
very  basis  of  all  civilization  and  of  all  stable  government. 
Mob  murder  is  anarchy  in  its  relation  to  government,  bru- 
tal savagery  as  compared  with  civilization,  and  defiant 
infidelity  in  its  attitude  toward  pure  religion.  It  is  destruc- 
tive, in  all  those  who  participate  in  it  and  those  who  ap- 
prove of  it  and  those  who  allow  it,  of  those  finer  human 
sentiments  and  principles  which  it  is  the  province  of  reli- 
gion to  inspire  and  develop,  of  which  true  culture  is  the 
expression,  and  upon  which  all  real  progress  depends. 

It  has  already  wrought  some  of  these  sinister  effects  in 
our  Southern  society.  As  is  well  known  the  mob  long  since 
ceased  to  regard  the  negro  rape  fiend  as  its  special  prey. 
But  whites  as  well  as  blacks,  women  as  well  as  men,  have 
often  been  the  victims  of  its  fury.  And  the  crimes  which 
it  has  taken  it  upon  itself  to  expiate  by  its  methods  of  hor- 
rible butchery  are,  more  than  eighty  per  cent  of  them,  of 
quite  different  character  and  lower  degree  of  baseness  than 
roipe,  including  such  as  "murder,  robbery,  looting,  clubbing 
an  officer,  stealing  cotton,  stealing  hogs,  poisoning  mules, 
and  being  accessory  to  the  burning  of  a  barn."  In  at  least 
five  per  cent  of  the  cases  last  year  it  later  developed  that 
the  persons  lynched  ivere  innocent  of  the  crimes  charged. 

2.  Lawlessness  in  general  is  increased  by  the  preva- 
lence of  mob  violence.  There  are  more  homicides  in  the 
United  States  than  in  any  other  country  in  the  world  of 
like  civilized  pretensions;  and  more  in  the  South  than  in 
any  other  section  of  the  nation  in  proportion  to  population — 
in  a  single  Southern  city  more  than  in  all  the  British  Isles. 


196  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

3.  Mob  law  is  the  rule  of  the  baser  elements  of  the 
population,  the  large  majority  of  those  participating  being 
generally  of  the  vicious  and  lawless  class.  But  the  con- 
science of  the  general  public  has  been  so  dulled  and  stupe- 
fied by  its  frequent  recurrence  that  in  many  cases  com- 
paratively respectable  and  honest  persons  have  been  caught 
in  the  rush  of  its  wild  passion  and  swept  into  participa- 
tion in  the  orgies  which  make  a  hoodlum's  holiday.  Law- 
abiding  men  have  thus  been  made  murderers,  to  carry  the 
guilty,  unexpiated,  and  degrading  consciousness  of  it  in 
their  breasts,  injuring  their  self-respect  and  lowering  their 
standards  of  conduct,  for  the  balance  of  their  days.  Young 
men  and  young  women  out  of  respectable  homes  have 
rushed  in  automobiles  to  witness  the  spectacle  of  a  naked 
negro  yelling  and  cursing  while  he  roasted  to  death,  and 
to  converse  with  each  other  concerning  the  unspeakable 
crime  with  which  he  was  charged.  Mothers  have  been 
known  to  lift  their  little  children  in  their  arms  to  behold 
the  demoniac  exhibition.  Following  such  occasions  the 
shops  have  done  large  business  in  post  cards  with  pictures 
of  the  burning  victim  at  various  stages  of  his  terror  and 
agony  and  dying.  While  worst  of  all,  let  us  confess  it  with 
shame,  many  teachers  and  preachers  have  been  discreetly 
mute  about  the  outrage  of  it,  and  many  politicians  have 
secretly  and  sometimes  even  openly  expressed  their  appro- 
bation :  for  often  some  of  the  guilty  participants  have  been 
prominent  patrons  of  our  schools  and  members  of  our 
churches;  and  hoodlums  and  even  criminals  until  convicted 
of  crime  have  votes — if  they  are  twenty-one  years  old  and 
are  of  the  male  sex. 

4.  Race  antipathy  has  been  aggravated  as  an  element 
of  our  social  situation,  and  thus  the  race  problem  made 
more  difficult,  by  the  multiplication  of  cases  of  mob  vio- 
lence. Most  lynchings  are  of  negroes  by  whites.  A  cer- 
tain type  of  negro  criminal  lives  in  constant  terror  of  the 
white  mob.  And  a  certain  type  of  low-grade  whites  are 
ready  to  join  the  mob  at  any  time  upon  the  slightest  occa- 
sion if  only  leadership  is  offered.    The  terror  of  the  negro 


CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  CURE  OF  MOB  VIOLENCE        197 

does  not  deter  him  from  crime,  but  increases  his  resent- 
ment and  rage,  and  criminal  inclination  as  a  policy  of 
frightfulness  always  inflames  passion.  The  readiness  of 
the  low-grade  white  to  "punish"  the  negro  offender  does 
not  constitute  him  a  defender  of  virtue  or  protector  of  the 
community.  Far  from  it.  It  only  finds  here  opportunity 
for  the  expression  of  hatred  and  bloodthirstiness  and  for 
some  new  animal  excitement  which  reduces  him  to  a  lower 
level  of  bestiality  even  than  before. 

5.  Thus  mob  violence  becomes  the  storm  in  which  lust 
and  rage  and  revenge  and  terror  and  hate  and  love  of  blood 
run  riot  over  every  civilized  and  Christian  sentiment  and 
institution,  and  tear  asunder  the  ties  of  sympathy  and 
friendship  and  cooperation  which  could  otherwise  make  it 
possible  for  thesfe  diverse  races  to  live  together  in  peace. 
Into  the  whirl  of  this  storm  of  passion,  born  in  the  hearts 
of  the  criminal  and  vicious  of  both  races,  have  been  caught 
thousands  and  thousands  of  better  men,  and  of  women  and 
even  children,  of  both  races,  until  the  whole  social  life  of 
our  Southland  has  been  disturbed,  and  many  have  declared 
that  real  peace  and  prosperity  and  social  happiness,  and 
friendship  and  helpfulness  and  cooperation  between  the 
races  was  impossible.     God  forbid! 

The  South  has  suffered  in  unspeakable  disgrace  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world  already  on  account  of  this  virulent  social 
madness;  but  let  us  not  consign  it  to  ruin.  Let  us  not  con- 
sent that  its  task  is  impossible,  and  its  doom  as  the  land 
of  chivalry  and  culture  and  freedom  and  Christian  democ- 
racy inevitable.  When  something  more  than  a  year  ago 
the  Turkish  Ambassador  withdrew  in  high  dudgeon  from 
his  position  in  this  country,  he  flouted  the  people  of  the 
United  States  in  the  most  insulting  language  with  their 
record  of  lawless  butchery  of  negro  suspects.  His  angry 
and  stinging  words  were  echoed  throughout  the  world. 
There  was  too  much  of  truth  in  what  he  said  for  us  to 
dare  to  attempt  an  answer.  O,  the  shame  of  it  to  us  of 
the  South!  It  was  chiefly  our  sin  which  this  scornful 
Mohammedan  was  laying  bare  before  the  world. 

What  can  we  do  about  it  ?    I  say  we  can  cure  it. 


198  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST  ^ 

THE  CURE 

I  have  only  space  to  suggest  in  most  general  terms  what 
should  be  done  to  remedy  this  evil — to  exorcise  this  devil 
from  our  social  and  civil  and  moral  and  religious  life. 

1.  If  necessary,  we  should  summon  the  strength  to  revo-i 
lutionize  the  tradition-shackled  modes  of  judicial  procedure 
which  in  many  respects  no  longer  command  the  respect 
either  of  the  thoughtful  student  or  of  the  average  man. 
But  as  the  crime  of  outrage  of  woman  is  itself  exceptional 
in  its  brutality  and  in  its  effects  upon  human  sentiments, 
and  as  the  crime  of  murder  by  a  mob  of  one  accused  of 
crime  does  not  fall  distinctly  under  the  category  of  crimes 
for  which  our  laws  were  provided,  it  is  not  unreasonable 
to  suggest  that  specific  laws  and  modes  of^  procedure  might 
be  adopted  which  would  furnish  society  with  better  protec- 
tion from  these  forms  of  outlawry.  As  a  mere  speculative 
suggestion  it  occurs  to  me  that  a  special  court  of  qualified 
judges,  taken  from  judicial  districts  other  than  that  in 
which  the  crime  was  committed,  might  be  constituted  to 
sit  in  the  case  of  one  charged  with  rape,  and  directed  to 
proceed  to  final  decision  without  delay,  no  appeal  to  be 
allowed  on  technical  grounds,  and  the  sentence  upon  the 
guilty  to  be  executed  at  once.  The  public  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  such  trials  except  through  representatives 
duly  selected,  so  as  to  guard  all  the  interests  of  the  accused 
and  of  society  at  large.  Thus  might  be  done  away  some 
of  the  abuses  of  the  outworn  and  inefficient  jury  system. 

2.  The  mob  should  be  dealt  with  as  a  form  of  anar- 
chistic insurrection,  and  military  power  should  be  given 
to  duly  appointed  officials  with  instructions  to  deal  with  it 
under  the  severest  forms  of  martial  law. 

3.  But  the  cure  upon  which  we  can  best  rely  is  that  of 
education  and  the  creation  of  public  sentiment,  in  increased 
respect  for  human  life  and  for  established  law. 

I  asked  a  friend  of  mine — a  college  president  in  another 
State — the  other  day  how  we  x^ould  create  this  public  sen- 
timent, and  he  replied  with  intense,  even  alarming,  earnest- 
ness:    "If  a  mob  would  burn  you  at  the  stake  and  a  few 


CAUSES,  CONSEQUENCES,  CURE  OF  MOB  VIOLENCE        199 

others  like  you,  it  would  accomplish  the  end  desired !"  And 
then  he  added,  "Somebody  has  always  to  die  to  save  society 
from  its  sins."  But  I  am  hoping  that  we  shall  not  have  to 
resort  to  such  extreme  measures ! 

The  school,  the  pulpit,  and  the  press  are  the  agencies 
upon  which  we  shall  chiefly  have  to  depend.  The  press  is 
in  the  main  all  right  upon  the  subject  in  its  editorial  col- 
umns. The  news  columns  ought  to  be  more  completely  con- 
verted to  the  standards  of  propriety  and  righteousness. 
The  pulpit  will  utter  its  voice  when  attention  has  been 
fully  called  to  the  matter.  The  school,  from  university 
down  to  country  schoolhouse,  can  be  made  the  most  efficient 
instrumentality.  The  underlying  principles  of  law  and  or- 
der can  be  more  specifically  taught  in  the  classroom.  Stu- 
dent bodies  can  be  organized  into  self-governing  Law  and 
Order  Leagues,  and  the  youth  who  are  to  be  the  leaders 
of  their  various  communities  trained  in  self-control,  and 
in  reverence  for  human  life  and  for  justice,  until  the  organi- 
zation of  a  mob  for  lawless  purposes  will  become  impos- 
sible or  be  easily  defeated  under  the  leadership  of  stronger 
men  and  women. 

I  would  not  omit  to  call  special  attention  here  to  the 
importance  of  using  the  school  as  an  instrument  in  this 
behalf  among  the  negroes  also.  Let  the  negro  schools  be 
organized  so  as  to  promote  training  in  the  principles  of 
social  order  and  propriety.  But  I  am  here  confronted  with 
the  fact  that  our  negro  population  is  far  less  adequately 
provided  with  educational  privileges  and  opportunities  than 
the  whites.  This  is  a  disgrace  to  the  principles  of  our 
humanity  and  a  reflection  upon  the  wisdom  of  our  political 
leadership.  I  do  not  agree  with  some  of  my  friends  that 
it  is  the  part  of  social  prudence  or  Christian  consideration 
for  us  to  attempt  to  condemn  the  negro  to  universal  servi- 
tude. While  industrial  education  is  at  present  probably  the 
most  valuable  to  him  practically,  it  is  stupid,  in  my  judg- 
ment, to  refuse  to  him  or  any  other  human  being  all  oppor- 
tunity for  the  highest  and  most  liberal  culture.  I  do  not 
mean  to  be  offensive,  but  the  attitude  of  some  of  our  South- 


A 


200  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

erners  on  the  question  of  negro  education  suggests  the  sus- 
picion that  they  fear  that  if  the  Negro  has  a  fair  chance  he 
will  outstrip  the  white  man.  So  far  as  the  race  is  concerned, 
I  have  no  fear  of  that.  Unfortunately  for  him,  the  Negro 
is  centuries  behind  the  leading  races  of  mankind.  But 
for  humanity's  sake  let  us  give  him  a  fair  chance.  No 
society  or  civilization  is  Christian  or  of  the  highest  type 
which  will  deliberately  deny  any  human  being  the  right  to 
make  the  most  out  of  himself  and  out  of  his  life.  Let  us 
give  the  negroes  of  our  land  full  opportunity  for  education 
in  their  own  schools  adequately  equipped.  And  then  surely 
we  can  trust  them  to  heed  the  friendly  admonition  to  make 
their  education  contribute  to  the  development  of  clean- 
minded,  industrious  members  of  the  social  order  with  a 
true  passion  for  service  to  their  kind  and  to  humanity.  No 
educated  negro  is  ever  a  rapist,  and  almost  none  of  them 
criminals  of  any  sort.  Thus  by  these  means,  education  of 
white  and  black,  through  school  and  press  and  pulpit,  we 
shall  produce  at  length  an  orderly,  law-loving,  prosperous, 
happy  South,  in  which  the  unspeakable  pains  which  race 
divergences  induce  shall  be  completely  compensated  by  the 
usefulness  of  each  race  to  the  other  and  to  all,  and  by  the 
friendship  which  they  shall  mutually  acknowledge  and  ex- 
press. If  in  the  impossible  and  irrational  conditions  of 
slavery  there  could  be,  as  we  know  there  were  in  thousands 
of  cases,  friendship  and  trust  and  love  and  happiness,  so 
that  old  men  and  women  of  both  races  who  remember  them 
think  of  those  old  days  before  the  war  as  Elysian  days, 
then  surely  in  these  better  days — Are  they  better  days? 
God  help  us  to  make  them  so! — in  these  days  at  least  of 
greater  opportunity  we  can  find  some  way  to  walk  together 
in  Christian  friendship  and  cooperation,  and  to  enter  to- 
gether into  a  conspiracy  to  put  an  end  forever  to  the  crimes 
which  have  disgraced  both  races  and  brought  unmeasured 
shame  and  sorrow  and  threatening  to  our  common  South- 
land. 


RACE  DISTINCTIONS  VS.  RACE  DISCRIMINATIONS        201 


RACE  DISTINCTIONS  VERSUS  RACE  DISCRIMI- 
NATIONS 

JUDGE  GILBERT  T.   STEPHENSON,   WINSTON-SALEM,   N.    C. 

A  RACE  distinction  is  in  principle  fundamentally  differ- 
ent from  a  race  discrimination,  although  the  two  terms 
have  ordinarily  been  considered  synonymous  when  the  ne- 
gro was  one  of  the  races  in  mind.  A  distinction  connotes 
a  difference  and  nothing  more,  while  a  discrimination  im- 
plies partiality  and  favoritism.  Statutes  prohibiting  inter- 
marriage between  the  races  and  requiring  the  separation 
of  the  races  in  schools,  public  conveyances,  and  other  pub- 
lic places  are  based  on  race  distinctions.  Giving  white  peo- 
ple better  accommodations  for  the  same  fare  than  negroes 
in  public  conveyances  and  requiring  negroes  to  satisfy  more 
rigid  literacy  tests  for  voting  than  white  men,  are  discrimi- 
nations against  negroes. 

Distinctions  between  white  people  and  negroes  have 
been  made  ever  since  the  first  negroes  came  to  America 
in  1619.  But  until  the  negro  was  emancipated  it  was  impos- 
sible to  say  whether  the  distinction  was  made  on  account 
of  his  race  or  his  state  of  servitude.  It  is  only  within  the  last 
generation  that  most  of  the  race  distinctions,  that  had  there- 
tofore existed  only  as  customs,  have  been  defined  and 
required  by  law.  Though  the  people  of  Massachusetts  gave 
the  name  "Jim  Crow"  as  early  as  1841  to  a  railroad  car 
set  apart  for  the  use  of  negroes,  and  though  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania  held  as  early  as  1865  that  it  was 
not  an  unreasonable  regulation  of  the  railroad  company  to 
separate  the  passengers  by  race  so  as  to  promote  personal 
comfort  and  convenience,  and  though  Mississippi,  Florida, 
and  Texas  actually  had  separate  coaches  for  negroes  as 
early  as  1866,  still  separation  in  these  instances  was  entirely 
a  matter  of  regulation  by  the  railroad  companies  and  was 
not  controlled  at  all  by  statutes.  It  was  not  till  1881  that 
the  first  law  was  passed  requiring  railroad  companies  to 
provide  separate  accommodations  for  the  races,  and  it  was 
not  until  1902'  that  the  first  State,  Louisiana,  required  sepa- 


202  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

ration  of  the  races  on  street  cars.  Massachusetts  actually 
had  separate  schools  for  negroes  as  early  as  1800.  The 
Supreme  Court  of  that  State  in  1849  spoke  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  separate  schools  as  follows:  "It  is  urged  that  this 
maintenance  of  separate  schools  tends  to  deepen  and  per- 
petuate the  odious  distinction  of  caste,  founded  in  a  deep- 
rooted  prejudice  in  public  opinion.  This  prejudice,  if  it 
exists,  is  not  created  by  law  and  probably  cannot  be  changed 
by  law.  Whether  this  distinction  and  prejudice,  existing 
in  the  opinion  and  feelings  of  the  community,  would  not 
be  as  effectually  fostered  by  compelling  colored  and  white 
children  to  associate  together  in  the  same  schools,  may  well 
be  doubted;  at  all  events,  it  is  a  fair  and  proper  question 
for  the  school  committee  to  consider  and  decide  upon,  hav- 
ing in  view  the  best  interests  of  both  classes  of  children 
placed  under  their  superintendence,  and  we  cannot  say  that 
their  decision  upon  it  is  not  founded  on  just  grounds  of 
reason  and  experience  and  is  not  the  result  of  a  discrimi- 
nating and  honest  judgment."  Separate  schools  have  been 
required  in  all  the  Southern  States  from  the  very  founda- 
tion of  the  public  school  system.  But  it  is  only  within  the 
last  few  years  that  statutes  have  been  passed  separating 
the  races  in  private  schools  as  well;  and  the  constitution- 
ality of  such  statutes  has  already  been  upheld  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States  (Berea  College  v.  Ky., 
211  U.  S.,  45).  Negroes  were,  for  the  most  part,  disfran- 
chised in  the  South  after  1877;  but  it  was  not  until  1890 
that  Mississippi  passed  the  first  suffrage  amendment,  the 
purpose  of  which  was  indirectly  to  disfranchise  negroes. 
The  latest  race  distinction  that  has  crystallized  into  law  is 
urban  segregation — that  is,  the  separation  of  residence  dis- 
tricts in  cities  according  to  the  race  of  the  occupants  there- 
of. Oklahoma  City  has  passed  such  a  segregation  ordinance 
within  the  last  three  weeks.  Already  there  is  in  some  quar- 
ters agitation  in  favor  of  rural  segregation — that  is,  set- 
ting apart  in  the  rural  districts  certain  neighborhoods  for 
white  people  and  others  for  colored.  In  other  words,  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  generation  in  which,  one  after  another. 


RACE  DISTINCTIONS  VS.  RACE  DISCRIMINATIONS        203 

race  distinctions  are  being  crystallized  into  law.  And  it 
is  significant  that  the  two  leading  cases  on  race  distinctions 
which  have  furnished  precedents  for  the  Southern  courts 
have  both  arisen  in  States  outside  the  South — one  from 
Massachusetts  in  1849,  justifying  separation  of  the  races 
in  schools  (Roberts  v.  City  of  Boston,  59  Mass.,  198) ,  and 
the  other  from  Pennsylvania  in  1865,  justifying  separation 
in  public  conveyances  (West  Chester  &  Phila.  Ry.  Co.  v. 
Mills,  55  Pa.  S.,  209). 

No  State,  since  the  evanescent  Black  Laws  of  1865,  has 
undertaken  to  legalize  race  discriminations — that  is,  no 
State,  speaking  through  its  legislature  or  court,  has  ever  said 
in  so  many  words  that  white  people  are  entitled  to  better 
accommodations  in  schools  or  in  public  conveyances  because 
of  their  race.  In  the  civil  rights  cases  of  1883  the  Four- 
teenth Amendment  was  interpreted  to  permit  race  distinc- 
tions, but  not  race  discriminations.  Yet  it  is  common 
knowledge  that  most  statutory  race  distinctions  have  lent 
themselves  to  discriminations  against  the  negro.  Other 
laws  which  made  no  mention  of  race  were  passed  largely 
for  the  purpose  of  affecting  the  negro.  In  the  face  of  the 
suffrage  amandments,  for  instance,  nothing  is  said  about 
race;  and  yet  it  is  common  knowledge  that  their  purpose 
was  to  curtail,  if  not  to  eliminate  altogether,  the  vote  of 
the  negro. 

Thinking  not  at  all  of  temporary  benefit  or  harm,  but 
considering  only  the  highest  good  of  both  races,  can  one 
justify  the  race  distinctions  that  have  already  been  made? 
And  are  there  other  distinctions  which  should  be  expressed 
in  statutes?  My  answer  is,  ''So  far,  so  good."  I  have  not 
the  time  to  make  an  argument  for  race  distinctions,  but  can 
only  state  conclusions.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  our  State 
Legislatures  have  acted  wisely  in  requiring  the  separation 
of  the  races  in  schools,  public  conveyances,  and  other  public 
places.  I  believe  that  statutes  against  intermarriage, 
already  in  force  in  twenty-six  States,  ought  to  be  enacted 
by  the  other  twenty-four  States  of  the  Union  and  by  Con- 
gress for  the  District  of  Columbia.     More  than  that,  I  be- 


204  DEMOCRACY   IN  EAI^NEST 

lieve  that  every  State  ought  to  make  miscegenation — that  is, 
illicit  cohabitation  of  the  races — as  heinous  a  crime  as  inter- 
marriage and  that  the  law  ought  to  be  as  rigidly  enforced. 
This  is  needed  for  the  protection  of  colored  women  as  well 
as  white  men.  Already  most  of  the  cities,  North  as  well  as 
South,  have  residence  districts  given  over  exclusively  to 
one  race,  some  to  negroes  and  others  to  white  people.  But 
in  these  same  cities  are  other  districts  partly  white  and 
partly  colored;  and  these  are  the  ones  in  which  race  fric- 
tion is  most  apt  to  occur.  In  order  to  clear  up  this  twilight 
zone,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  governing  body  of  each  city  pass- 
ing a  segregation  ordinance  as  will  meet  its  local  needs. 
Further  than  this  in  segregation  I  cannot  go.  I  am  opposed 
to  rural  segregation — that  is,  as  I  have  explained,  setting 
apart,  by  the  vote  of  the  people  within  the  community,  of 
certain  neighborhoods  for  negroes  and  others  for  white 
people — because  I  believe  that  it  cannot  be  worked  with- 
out doing  an  injus'tice  to  the  negro,  which  would  be  un- 
worthy of  our  race.  I  am  aware  that  the  rural  segrega- 
tion law  that  has  been  suggested  is  on  its  face  only  a  race 
distinction;  but  I  have  been  unable  to  see  how  it  could  be 
made  effective  without  becoming  a  discrimination  against 
the  negro. 

This  leads  me  to  consider  the  next  proposition — namely, 
considering  only  the  highest  good  of  both  races,  can  one 
justify  discriminations  against  the  negro  in  any  instance? 
On  what  principle  of  equity  can  one  say  that  a  negro  who 
pays  full  fare  is  not  entitled  to  as  good  accommodations  in 
a  railroad  or  street  car  as  the  white  person  paying  the 
same  fare?  Why  should  a  negro  child  not  be  as  much 
entitled  to  an  education  suited  to  his  needs  as  the  white 
child  is  entitled  to  one  suited  to  his  needs?  It  is  wise  to 
require  white  children  and  colored  children  to  go  to  differ- 
ent schools;  but  simple  justice  demands  that  we  give  to 
the  negro  children  the  course  of  study  best  suited  to  their 
needs  and  to  the  white  children  the  course  of  study  best 
suited  to  theirs.  These  courses  may  be  different,  quite 
likely  they  would  be,  but,  as  I  have  explained,  a  distinction 


RACE  DISTINCTIONS  VS.   RACE  DISCRIMINATIONS        205 

is  not  in  itself  a  discrimination.  In  this  instance  it  would 
be  a  discrimination  against  the  negro  child  to  force  upon 
him  a  course  of  study  unsuited  to  his  needs  simply  because 
it  was  the  one  best  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  white  child. 
Such  a  discrimination  against  negroes  we  have  been  mak- 
ing for  the  last  fifty  years.  They  have  needed  a  fish,  and 
we  have  given  them  a  scorpion;  they  have  needed  bread, 
and  we  have  given  them  a  stone.  That  is,  they  have  needed 
training  in  the  habits  of  industry  and  economy;  we  have 
given  them  training  in  dead  languages.  It  is  wise  to  sepa- 
rate the  races  in  public  conveyances;  but  simple  justice 
demands  that  we  give  the  negro  passenger  as  good  accom- , 
modations  for  his  money  as  the  white  passenger  gets.  It 
is  wise  to  prescribe  educational  and  property  and  poll  tax 
requirements  for  voting;  but  simple  justice  demands  that 
we  apply  these  tests  with  absolute  impartiality  to  both 
races.  I  believe  that  it  is  wise  to  segregate  the  residence 
districts  in  many  of  the  Southern  cities;  but  it  is  just,  if 
such  segregation  is  undertaken,  to  give  the  negroes  as  good 
streets  and  sewers  and  water  connections  and  police  and 
fire  protection  as  the  white  people  have.  Such  reasonable 
race  distinctions  must  be  recognized  and  enforced  if  the 
two  races  are  to  live  together  in  peace  here  in  the  South; 
but  an  abiding  harmony  between  the  races  can  never  be 
established  upon  a  basis  of  discrimination. 

For  over  fifty  years  the  two  races  have  been  living 
together  side  by  side  here  in  the  South.  In  all  probability 
they  will  continue  so  to  live  for  hundreds  of  years  to  come, 
if  not  until  the  end  of  time.  Yet  circumstances  have  been 
such  that  no  serious  effort  has  so  far  been  made  to  state  ' 
a  comprehensive  set  of  principles  to  govern  the  two  races 
in  their  relations  with 'each  other.  But  the  difficulties  have 
been  removed  to  such  a  degree  that  I  believe  the  time  is 
come  when  the  men  and  women  of  the  South  of  both  races 
who  are  doing  constructive  thinking  on  race  relationships 
ought  to  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  stating  a  set  of  fun- 
damental principles  and  then  of  seeing  them  put  into  prac- 
tice by  the  people  at  large  in  their  daily  conduct.     I  know 


206  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

of  no  body  of  students  better  prepared  to  undertake  such 
a  task  than  the  members  of  this  Congress. 

In  the  promotion  of  such  a  creed  on  race  relationships 
I  venture  to  suggest  two  practical  lines  of  conduct,  one 
involving  a  change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  negroes,  the 
other  of  white  people.  The  first  is  that  the  negroes  of  the 
South  ought  to  cooperate  whole-heartedly  with  the  white 
people  in  the  recognition  and  enforcement  of  all  race  dis- 
tinctions within  the  bounds  of  reason  and  equity.  So  far 
most  of  them  have  only  given  a  begrudging  acquiescence 
in  them.  One  should  not  blame  them.  They  have  regarded 
them  as  but  another  expression  by  the  white  race  of  its 
feeling  of  superiority  to  the  negro  race.  They  have  seen 
that  distinctions  have  been  but  another  word  of  discrimi- 
nations against  negroes.  Once  define  distinctions  and  dis- 
criminations in  the  thinking  of  negroes,  and  they  will  give 
their  hearty  cooperation  to  all  reasonable  distinctions. 

The  other  suggestion  is  that  the  white  people  of  the 
South  ought  to  give  their  whole-hearted  cooperation  to  the 
negroes  in  obliterating  race  discriminations.  We  white 
people  have  agreed  that  as  an  issue  of  abstract  ethics  the 
negro  ought  not  to  be  discriminated  against  on  account  of 
his  race.  We  have  said  in  such  meetings  as  these  that  the 
common  carrier  ought  to  provide  as  good  accommodations 
for  negro  passengers  as  for  white  passengers.  We  have 
been  conscious  that  the  negro  school  children  were  not  get- 
ting the  training  suited  to  their  needs.  But  our  protests 
against  these  discriminations  have  been  so  feeble  and  so 
largely  confined  to  academic  circles  that  the  negroes  have 
doubted  either  our  sincerity  or  our  courage.  The  oblitera- 
tion of  discriminations  against  negroes  by  white  people  of 
the  South — and  if  they  are  obliterated  it  must  be  by  our- 
selves and  not  by  coercion  from  the  outside — is  more  than 
an  academic  question.  It  is  a  moral  question.  "The  issue 
will  test  the  moral  quality  of  this  nation;  and  if  it  finds 
no  settlement,  the  failure  will  be  a  moral  failure  and  show 
the  point  at  which  our  civilization  broke  down  for  the  lack 
of  moral  strength." 


V.    WORK  FOR  ALL 


A  Creed  and  a  Crusade 

Letter  from  Hon.  W.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor 

Labor  Values  Destroyed  by  Disease 

The  Duty  of  Southern  Labor  During  the  War 

Labor's  Challenge  to  Democracy 

An  Open  Door  to  Industry  on  the  Basis  of  Efficiency 


A  CREED  AND  A  CRUSADE 
We  Believe: 

1.  That  God,  our  Father,  is  the  Giver  of  All  Life. 

2.  That  health,  justice,  and  good  will  for  all  the 
people  are  fundamental  in  a  democracy. 

3.  That  health  is  the  basis  of  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness, and  therefore  the  first  duty  both  of  the  State 
and  the  Church. 

4.  That  fifty  per  cent  of  the  deaths  in  our  country 
are  preventable,  and  that  ninety  per  cent  of  com- 
municable diseases  should  be  prevented. 

5.  That  the  essential  and  first  work  of  the  medical 
profession  is  the  conservation,  not  the  correction,  of 
health;  and  that  the  physician  should  be  paid  for 
preventing  disease  rather  than  for  curing  it. 

6.  That  the  Federal  Government  should  establish 
a  Coordinate  Cabinet  Department  of  Health. 

7.  That  the  death  of  children  is  a  defeat  of  God's 
purpose,  and  their  health — physical,  mental,  and 
moral — should  be  a  primary  function  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  Church. 

8.  That  the  promotion  of  the  health  of  children 
and  of  the  community  should  be  to  a  school  of  corre- 
sponding interest  and  obligation  with  instruction. 

9.  That  the  press  can  render  at  the  present  time 
no  greater  service  to  the  nation  than  to  champion  the 
cause  of  public  health. 

10.  That  the  time  has  come  for  a  nation-wide  cru- 
sade for  health,  justice,  and  cooperation. 

And  We  Call 

on  the  people  of  the  South  to  aid,  through  the 
agencies  of  home  and  school,  medical  profession  and 
press,  church  and  government,  for  the  achievement 
of  health  and  justice  for  the  individual,  for  the  com- 
munity, and  for  the  nation. 


LETTER   FROM   HON.   W.   B.   WILSON,   SECRETARY 

OF  LABOR 

The  special  War  Workers'  Conferences  to  be  con- 
ducted by  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  impress  me 
as  a  very  significant  step  in  the  effort  of  the  nation  to  mob- 
ilize its  labor  power  for  one  hundred  per  cent  production 
in  industry  and  agriculture.  Such  use  of  the  labor  power 
of  the  country  is  imperative  as  a  second  line  of  defense 
behind  the  millions  of  our  men  now  on  the  fighting  front 
in  France,  in  the  army  camps  in  this  countiy,  and  in  our 
navy  upon  the  high  seas. 

The  experts  tell  us  that  it  takes  from  six  to  ten  workers 
at  home  to  keep  one  soldier  on  the  firing  line  in  Europe. 
Whatever,  therefore,  helps  to  mobilize,  distribute,  and  ener- 
gize those  who  do  the  work  of  our  war  industries  has  become 
as  important  a  factor  in  winning  the  war  as  the  prowess 
of  our  armies  in  the  field  or  our  navy  on  the  seas. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  has  lodged  the  func- 
tion of  recruiting  and  placing  labor  for  war  industries  in 
the  United  States  Employment  Service  of  the  Department 
of  Labor.  Beginning  with  common  labor  on  August  1,  this 
service  will  gradually  take  charge  of  the  mobilizing  and 
placement  of  all  labor  for  war  industries  employing  one 
hundred  or  more  workers.  This  will  profoundly  affect  all 
other  industries  and  all  other  workers.  It  will  correct  the 
abuses  and  the  troubles  growing  out  of  the  large  labor  turn- 
over with  the  consequent  disruption  of  regular  work. 

In  assuming  such  responsibility  the  Department  of  Labor 
is  aware  of  the  dangers.  We  need  the  cooperation  and  help 
of  such  men  and  women  as  gather  in  your  conferences  to 
guard  against  these  dangers.  Workers  must  not  be  taken 
from  one  essential  industry  only  to  be  placed  in  other  work 
not  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Discretion 
and  care  must  be  used  in  the  movement  of  laborers  from 
one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  in  order  that  the  economic 
fabric  of  the  nation  will  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible. 
We  need  to  keep  ever  before  us  the  idea  that  the  interests 
of  the  laborers  and  the  interests  of  the  business  men  are  com- 

14 


210  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

plementaiy.  They  are  parts  of  that  great  organization  of 
industry  and  agriculture  so  necessary  to  the  successful  wag- 
ing of  this  war  and  so  essential  to  the  life  of  the  nation. 

Above  all,  every  safeguard  must  be  taken  to  protect  the 
standard  of  living  and  the  morale  of  the  wage  earners. 
Especially  must  great  care  be  taken  to  keep  the  age  limit 
of  those  who  enter  industry  at  a  high  level,  lest  we  rob  our 
future  citizenship  of  its  right  to  growth  and  time  for  edu- 
cation. We  must  also  take  knowledge  of  the  dangers 
attendant  upon  the  large  entrance  of  women  into  heavy  and 
hazardous  industries. 

The  exigencies  of  w^ar  times  should  not  be  made  the 
occasion  for  the  breaking  down  of  those  standards  of  hours, 
wages,  and  conditions  of  work  which  are  designed  to  protect 
the  childhood,  the  womanhood,  and  the  motherhood  of  the 
present  and  the  future. 

It  is  especially  important  at  this  crucial  period,  when  we 
need  to  conserve  all  the  resources  of  the  nation  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  war,  that  these  principles  should  be  applied  to 
all  the  people  of  our  country,  including  the  Negro  people, 
who  constitute  about  one-sixth  of  the  total  laboring  popu- 
lation. A  similar  policy  will  be  equally  important  in  the 
readjustment  period  which-  will  follow  the  war.  I  am 
pleased  to  know  that  your  Congress  is  giving  the  problem  its 
earnest  consideration. 

The  American  workingman  is  known  to  have  the  highest 
standard  f  living  of  any  wage  earner  in  the  world.  This 
is  because  the  American  wage  worker  is  the  most  produc- 
tive in  the  world.  The  two  things  play  back  and  forth  as 
cause  and  effect,  one  of  the  other.  I  am  sure  that  your  Con- 
gress stands  with  the  Department  of  Labor  in  its  vigilance 
to  see  that  this  relation  of  cause  and  effect  between  high 
power  of  production  of  the  workers  and  high  quality  of 
working  and  living  conditions  for  the  workers  should  be 
maintained  and  advanced. 

Wishing  for  you,  therefore,  successful  conferences,  I 
beg  to  remain. 

Yours  very  truly,  W.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary. 


LABOR  VALUES  DESTROYED  BY  DISEASE  211 


LABOR  VALUES  DESTROYED  BY  DISEASE 

JOSIAH  MORSE,  PH.D.,  UNIVERSITY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA, 
COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

The  facts  are  quickly  told.  In  1914  one  million  and  a 
half  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  United  States  died, 
and  some  three  millions  were  on  the  sick  list  all  the  time. 
Of  these  deaths  and  diseases,  40  per  cent,  according  to  Pro- 
fessor Irving  Fisher,  were  needless.  Dr.  B.  S.  Warren, 
Surgeon,  United  States  Public  Health  Service,  estimates 
that  the  average  wage-earner  in  the  United  States  loses 
nine  days  annually  on  account  of  sickness.  Statistics  gath- 
ered by  the  Austrian  Government  show  a  variation  from 
four  days  per  annum  for  clerks  and  salesmen  in  shops  to 
15.7  for  cardboard  and  paper-box  factory  workers.  Simi- 
lar figures  were  collected  in  England  and  Germany. 

According  to  the  1910  census  there  were  38,167,336 
male  and  female  workers  in  the  United  States.  This  num- 
ber multiplied  by  nine  gives  us  a  total  of  343,506,024  days, 
or  941,112  years  lost  yearly  on  account  of  sickness  in  this 
country.  Reports  received  in  1911  by  the  Rockefeller  SaBi- 
tary  Commission  from  their  agents  in  various  parts  of  Co- 
lumbia, British  and  Dutch  Guiana,  India,  China,  Ceylon, 
Panama,  and  Costa  Rica  showed  that  from  50  to  90  per  cent 
of  the  native  populations  were  infected  with  the  hookworm 
disease.  Of  the  548,992  Southern  rural  children  examined, 
39  per  cent  were  infected.  What  this  means  in  the  way  of 
loss  of  wealth  production  can  be  roughly  estimated  from 
the  fact  that  in  South  Carolina  alone  $30,000,000  is  lost 
annually  because  of  the  lowered  vitality  of  the  workers,  and 
that  the  working  efficiency  of  laborers  on  coffee  planta- 
tions in  Porto  Rico  was  increased  from  30  to  50  per  cent 
after  treatment  for  the  disease.  An  examination  of  2,283 
workers  in  New  York  State — bakers,  tailors,  furriers,  and 
tobacco  workers — showed  that  from  57  to  89  per  cent  had 
one  or  more  diseases.    An  examination  of  more  than  7,000 


212  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

employees  of  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Co.,  showed  a  tuberculosis 
rate  of  more  than  4  per  cent. 

Again,  on  the  basis  of  the  total  number  of  days  lost, 
it  is  conservative  to  estimate  that  "the  total  annual  loss  in 
wages  and  expenses  for  medical  attention  in  the  United 
States  is  over  a  billion  dollars,"  and  it  is  further  estimated 
that  the  people  spend  at  least  $500,000,000  annually  for 
medicines,  "and  most  of  this  is  consumed  haphazardly  and 
not  under  the  direction  of  a  physician."  Were  we  adept  in 
multiplication  and  long  division,  we  might  determine  the 
number  of  Panama  Canals  that  could  be  built  in  that  time 
and  for  that  sum ;  how  many  macadamized  highways  from 
coast  to  coast  could  be  constructed;  the  number  of  Lusi- 
tanias  dreadnaughts,  miles  of  railway,  and  so  on — but  the 
bare  numbers  themselves  are  sufficiently  impressive.  To 
the  average  intelligence  they  simply  mean  that  an  enor- 
mous, almost  incalculable,  amount  of  labor  and  capital  is 
annually  lost  in  our  country  on  account  of  unnecessary 
sickness. 

Dr.  Eugene  L.  Fisk,  Director  of  Hygiene,  Life  Exten- 
sion Institute,  found,  as  a  result  of  an  examination  of  life 
insurance  policy  holders  who  asked  to  be  examined,  that 
only  2.40  per  cent  were  normal.  All  the  rest  needed  advice 
regarding  their  physical  condition  or  their  living  habits, 
and  65.75  per  cent  were  referred  to  physicians  for  treat- 
ment. Another  examination  of  employees  of  commercial 
houses,  banks,  etc.,  showed  practically  the  same  results. 

Statistical  studies  of  the  diseases  themselves  made  by 
Dr.  Fisk,  and  especially  by  Louis  I.  Dublin,  Statistician  of 
the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  show  that  while 
modern  medicine  has  made  great  headway  against  the  germ 
and  contagious  diseases  (which  are  diseases  chiefly  of  in- 
fancy and  early  life),  the  diseases  of  later  life,  character- 
ized by  degenei'ation  or  premature  wearing  out  of  the  im- 
portant organs  of  the  body — e.  cj.,  diseases  of  the  heart  and 
arteries,  Bright's  disease,  diabetes,  cancer,  cirrhosis  of  the 
liver — these  have  been  rapidly  and  continuously  increasing. 


LABOR  VALUES  DESTROYED  BY  DISEASE      ,  213 

Dr.  Dublin  presents  the  following  table  showing  the  per 
cent  of  increase  for  the  various  diseases  during  the  decade 
1900-1910: 

Per  cent 
1900       1910     Increase 

Cancer    (all   forms) 63.5  82.9  30.6 

Diabetes     11.0  17.6  60.0 

Cerebral  hemorrhage  and  apo- 
plexy     72.5  86.1  18.8 

Organic  diseases  of  heart 116.0  161.6  39.3 

Diseases  of  ai-teries 5.2  25.8  396.2 

Cirrhosis  of  liver 12.6  14.4  14.3 

Bright's  disease 81.0  95.7  18.1 

Total    361.8         484.1  33.8 

A  recent  Census  Bureau  Bulletin  gives  the  exact  number 
of  deaths  for  each  of  the  several  diseases  during  1913 : 

Heart  diseases  93,142 

Pneumonia    83,778 

Bright's  disease  and  nephritis 65,106 

Diarrhea  and  enteritis 57,080 

Cancer   49,928 

Apoplexy   47,220 

Diphtheria   and   croup 11,920 

These  figures  interpreted  mean  that  the  medical  and 
educational  agencies  of  the  country  have  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing an  impression  upon  the  home  and  been  able  to  bring 
about  great  improvement  in  the  hygienic  and  sanitary  con- 
ditions there.  Also  that  the  State  and  municipal  boards  of 
health  have  done  much  in  the  way  of  improving  public 
hygiene  and  sanitation.  But  they  further  mean  that  these 
agencies  have  not  yet  made  any  considerable  impression  on 
the  industrial  and  commercial  worlds,  where  the  bodies  of 
men  and  women  are  worn  out  without  mercy  or  reason.  And 
the  reason  for  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  In  the  one  case  we 
are  dealing  with  parents,  neighbors,  citizens;  in  the  other 
with  employers,  or,  worse  still,  "soulless  corporations." 
The  former  can  be  influenced  by  physician,  teacher,  social 
worker,  books,  and  articles ;  the  latter  are,  as  a  rule,  moved 
only  by  a  State  legislature  backed  by  the  Supreme  Court, 


2]  4  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

and  we  know  something  of  the  pacifist  history  of  both  these 
institutions  in  their  dealings  with  big  business. 

Dr.  Warren  found  sickness  "much  more  prevalent 
among  low-paid  workers  than  among  those  whose  incomes 
are  sufficient  to  provide  sanitary  housing,  adequate  food, 
and  pleasant  surroundings  in  the  home  and  the  shop,"  and 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  "fully  one-half  of  the  wage- 
earners  in  this  country  do  not  receive  incomes  sufficient  to 
maintain  healthful  conditions  of  living.'*  There  lies  the 
whole  story  in  a  nutshell — underpay,  overwork,  occupa- 
tional dangers  and  diseases,  followed  closely  by  intemper- 
ance, vice,  ignorance,  and  crime,  as  effect  and  reciprocal 
cause.  "There  is  no  longer  any  doubt,"  says  Dr.  Warren, 
"that  modern  industry  is  responsible  for  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  workingmen's  physical  ills." 

The  new  preventive  medicine  has  given  life  to  tens  of 
thousands  of  infants,  and  they  have  grown  to  full  maturity. 
But  it  will  take  more  than  the  science  of  medicine  to  pre- 
vent the  economic  and  industrial  evils,  which  increasingly 
result  in  disease  and  death  for  the  workers.  We  are  told, 
for  example,  that  "there  is  scarcely  any  one  line  of  modern 
manufacture  which  is  free  from  the  dangers  of  industrial 
poisoning."  And  sanitary  surveys  of  manufacturing  plants 
in  Louisiana,  Ohio,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Minnesota 
showed  that  "a  very  considerable  proportion  were  in  'poor* 
or  'bad'  condition  from  the  standpoint  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene."  To  these  evils  must  be  added  those  of  "long 
hours,  the  piece-work  system,  and  the  increasing  use  of  ma- 
chine methods,"  which  are  especially  productive  of  over- 
fatigue. 

I  do  not  know  that  we  have  a  right  to  expect  the  phy- 
sician to  try  to  follow  up  his  splendid  work  in  the  home 
and  hospital  with  similar  work  in  the  factory  and  shop, 
mine  or  m.ill ;  but  if  he  does  not  become  social  worker  him- 
self, he  will  certainly  be  expected  to  cooperate  actively  with 
all  the  agencies  that  will  struggle  for  economic  and  indus- 
trial reforms.  The  science  of  medicine  is  far  in  advance 
of  practical  or  applied  sociology.     We  have  much  more 


LABOR  VALUES  DESTROYED  BY  DISEASE  215 

knowledg'e  now  than  we  use,  or  perhaps  can  use  for  some 
time,  so  that  one  is  almost  tempted  to  ask  science  to  wait 
on  practice  and  let  it  catch  up  a  bit.  For  what  will  it  profit 
society  to  save  increasingly  the  lives  of  the  little  ones,  if 
even  before  they  reach  puberty  they  are  begun  to  be  ground 
out  slowly  in  the  industrial  machine  and  converted  into 
profits  for  the  few?  We  have  seen  that  already  half  the 
wage-earners  are  underpaid,  and  that  means  that  they  are 
underfed,  insufficiently  clad,  and  unhealthily  housed.  Why 
increase  the  number  and  add  to  the  burdens  of  those  who 
must  even  now  wage  a  bitter  struggle  for  existence?  Dr. 
Thomas  Darlington,  secretary  of  the  welfare  committee  of 
the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Institute,  commenting  upon 
the  findings  of  that  committee  after  visiting  a  number  of 
industrial  towns,  says:  "A  study  of  the  causes  of  death 
shows  that,  in  general,  but  4  per  cent  die  from  old  age,  4  per 
cent  more  die  from  violence,  and  92  per  cent  die  from  dis- 
eases. Of  this  last  great  group,  nearly  one-half  are  due  to 
disease  of  environment — that  is,  to  diseases  which  are 
wholly  preventable." 

Numerous  investigations  show  that  a  family  of  five  can- 
not be  supported  with  a  minimum  degree  of  adequacy  under 
$800  per  annum,  some  say  $1,000.  And  yet  statistics  show 
that  four-fifths  of  wage-workers  earn  less  than  $800,  one- 
half  less  than  $600,  and  one-fourth  less  than  $W0.  In  the 
absence  of  corresponding  economic  and  industrial  reforms 
are  we  sure  that  progress  in  life-saving  and  prolonging 
is  altogether  a  blessing  to  the  workers?  Is  not  the  case 
somewhat  analogous  to  painstakingly  keeping  prisoners 
alive  in  order  to  execute  them  later  on?  I  confess  I  am 
not  so  sure  in  my  mind  about  this  as  I  should  like  to  be. 
It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that  the  death  rate  for 
the  children  of  the  low-paid  workers  is  from  50  to  150  per 
cent  greater  than  the  average  for  the  whole  country,  which 
means  that  nature  is  at  work  correcting  as  best  she  can  the 
errors  of  man.  Briefly,  my  conclusion  is  that  inasmuch  as 
health  is  not  only  a  medical  problem,  but  also  an  economic, 
industrial,  and  social  one,  the  need  for  the  present  and  im- 
mediate future,  so  far  as  the  wage-earner  is  concerned,  is 


216  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

not  SO  much  for  more  medical  progress,  valuable  as  that 
is,  as  for  more  legislative  progress  with  respect  to  wages, 
and  hours,  and  conditions  of  work,  like  the  famous  Oregon 
law,  drafted  by  Miss  Josephine  Goldmark  and  Louis  Bran- 
dies, protecting  women  against  overwork,  and  the  new  Ore- 
gon law  now  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
drawn  by  Miss  Goldmark  and  Felix  Frankfurter  for  the 
protection  of  men  from  the  same  evil.  It  is  an  encoura- 
ging sign  that  a  few  of  the  larger  corporations  are  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  justice  and  humaneness  are  not  only 
good  morals  and  religion,  but  also  good  business.  For 
where  is  the  wisdom  in  killing  the  geese  that  lay  the  golden 
eggs?  Thus,  for  example,  a  committee  of  stockholders  of 
the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  declared  in  their  re- 
port :  "Whether  viewed  from  the  physical,  social,  or  moral 
point  of  view,  we  believe  that  the  seven-day  week  is  detri- 
mental to  those  engaged  in  it.  .  .  .  We  are  of  the  opin- 
ion that  a  twelve-hour  day  of  labor  followed  continuously  by 
any  group  of  men  for  any  considerable  number  of  years 
means  a  decreasing  of  the  efficiency  and  lessening  of  the 
vigor  and  virility  of  such  men."  And  yet  as  late  as  1913 
nearly  two-thirds  of  the  blast-furnace  workers  in  the  plants 
which  were  investigated  were  on  an  84-hours-per-week 
basis,  and  the  customary  working  time  for  over  three- 
fourths  of  the  workers  in  this  department  was  seven  days 
a  week.  In  very  many  coal  and  copper  mines,  slaughter- 
ing plants,  cotton,  hosiery,  and  knit-goods  mills,  and  leather 
factories  the  working  day  was  ten  hours  or  longer. 

Some  large  employers  have  engaged  extensively  in  wel- 
fare work,  have  established  hospitals,  employed  sanitary 
engineers  and  health  lecturers,  and  generally  improved  con- 
ditions in  their  plants.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  their  example 
will  be  imitated  by  all  the  others,  even  though  such  meas- 
ures are  palliatives  only,  and  that  they  will  all  soon  go  on 
to  the  next  step  and  shorten  the  hours  of  labor,  increase  the 
wages,  and  eliminate  the  work  of  children  so  that  every 
sober  and  healthy  and  industrious  worker  and  head  of  a 
family  may  live  and  labor  under  conditions  that  will  not 
doom  him  to  poverty  and  disease  and  premature  death. 


LABOR  VALUES  DESTROYED  BY  DISEASE  217 

Of  course  the  employers  are  not  the  only  ones  respon- 
sible for  the  diseases  and  miseries  of  the  workers.  So- 
ciety itself  is  particeps  criminis  in  permitting  such  labor 
conditions  to  exist,  and  in  the  failure  to  insist  on  healthy 
and  wholesome  houses  and  surroundings  for  those  who 
labor  and  produce.  And  the  workers  themselves  are  re- 
sponsible, in  that  they  do  not  most  wisely  and  economically 
spend  what  little  incomes  they  do  receive.  Nor  do  they 
keep  their  homes  and  premises  as  clean  and  sanitary  as 
they  should.  Nor  do  many  of  them  observe  even  the  most 
elementary  laws  of  personal  hygiene.  But  it  is  a  good  prin- 
ciple to  place  the  heaviest  burden  on  the  strongest  shoulder. 
That  is  why  I  have  emphasized  the  responsibility  of  society 
and  the  employers.  Speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  sanitarian,  and  from  his  extensive  experience.  Surgeon 
General  William  C.  Gorgas  said  at  a  gathering  of  single 
taxers:  "That  poverty  is  the  greatest  single  cause  of  bad 
sanitary  conditions  was  very  early  impressed  upon  me.  If 
I  should  go  again  into  a  community  such  as  Cuba  or  Pana- 
ma, and  were  allowed  to  select  only  one  sanitary  measure, 
but  were  at  the  same  time  given  power  to  choose  from  all 
sanitary  measures,  I  would  select  that  of  doubling  wages. 
This,  in  my  case,  is  not  altogether  theory.  In  our  tropical 
possessions,  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  the  Philippines,  Panama, 
the  result  has  always  come  about  that  we  have  largely 
increased  wages;  the  result  has  also  come  about  that  in 
all  these  cases  we  have  greatly  improved  sanitation."  And 
another  leader  in  the  field  of  preventive  medicine  declared : 
"The  employer  who  raises  the  pay  of  his  help  does  more  to 
stop  tuberculosis  than  all  we  doctors  can  do."  The  need  is 
for  better  labor  laws  everyivhere,  and  for  a  more  willing 
and  generous  response  from  the  employers.  The  capitalists 
must  be  the  first  to  realize  that  their  best  interests  are  not 
at  variance  with  the  best  interests  of  the  laborers,  but  one 
with  them.  They  need  to  learn,  many  of  them,  the  ele- 
mentary lesson  that  whatever  injures  the  worker,  lowers 
his  vitality,  or  reduces  his  efficiency  at  the  same  time  im- 
pairs his  productivity  and  minimizes  his  purchasing  power, 
thus  injuring  capital  itself.     They  need  to  learn  that  we 


218  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

are  all  cells  of  one  living-  tissue,  and  that  no  part  of  the 
organism,  however  protected  and  favored  it  may  be,  can  be 
completely  healthy  or  safe  so  long  as  a  large  part  of  the 
organism  is  diseased.  They  need  to  get  a  broader  vision 
and  a  longer  time-sense,  and  realize  that  if  they  seem  to 
"get  away"  with  certain  evil  or  unfair  practices  now,  they 
do  not  really  do  so.  For  evils  engendered  in  the  system 
must  work  themselves  out  sooner  or  later,  and  very  often 
the  descendants  of  those  responsible  for  the  evils  have  to 
pay  a  heavy  price  for  their  fathers'  sins. 

If  they  have  wisdom  and  foresight,  they  will  not  allow 
the  oft-repeated  history  in  governments  and  religions — the 
history  of  abuse,  exploitation,  and  tyranny  followed  by  bit- 
ter and  destructive  revolution — to  be  the  history  of  busi- 
ness and  industry.  The  world's  work  must  go  on  in  ever- 
increasing  volume,  and  profitably,  of  course — profitably  to 
capital  and  labor  alike — but  it  can  and  must  go  on  with- 
out damage  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  workers, 
without  injury  to  future  generations.  There  is  more  than 
enough  intelligence  in  the  world  to  solve  this  life  and  labor 
problem.  The  question  is,  Is  there  enough  heart,  enough 
altruism?  In  a  foreword  to  Surgeon  General  Gorgas's  ad- 
dress, signed  by  twenty-three  men  of  prominence,  includ- 
ing such  names  as  Jaques  Loeb,  Frederick  C.  Howe, 
Thomas  Mott  Osborne,  George  Foster  Peabody,  and  Louis 
F.  Post,  there  occur  the  following  interesting  sentences: 
"The  last  twenty-five  years  have  witnessed  an  enormous 
interest  in  all  kinds  of  welfare  work.  The  physician,  en- 
gineer, pathologist,  the  bacteriologist,  the  sociologist,  the 
economist,  the  social  worker  have  each  in  turn  attacked  the 
problems  of  social  hygiene.  The  result  has  been  the  accu- 
mulation of  a  mass  of  facts  invaluable  for  the  comfort  and 
safety  of  mankind.  But,  however  varied  the  fields  of  the 
workers  may  be,  at  one  point  they  all  converge  at  last. 
Every  one  of  these  workers,  who  looks  beyond  and  beneath 
his  own  particular  field,  every  one  who  ponders  on  the  pri- 
mary causes  of  disease,  of  vice,  of  alcoholism,  of  feeble- 
mindedness; every  one  who,  in  other  words,  brings  his 
scientific  imagination  as  well  as  his  scientific  knowledge  to 


THE  QUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE  WAR       219 

bear  upon  this  problem,  is  finally  forced  into  the  convic- 
tion that  underneath  all  obvious  and  immediate  causes  there 
lies  one  great,  general,  and  determining  social  cause — 
poverty." 

"Of  what  use,"  says  the  tuberculosis  expert,  "to  send  a 
patient  to  a  sanatorium  and  perhaps  cure  him,  only  to  re- 
turn him  to  the  slums?"  "Of  what  use,"  says  the  tem- 
perance advocate,  "to  preach  temperance,  when  overworked 
and  underpaid  labor  must  needs  seek  surcease  of  sorrow  in 
the  saloon?"  How  telling  and  how  biting  the  reply  of  the 
London  city  missionary  when  found  fault  with  for  not  sav- 
ing more  souls :  "If  you  will  fill  their  stomachs  with  food, 
I  will  fill  their  hearts  with  the  love  of  God." 


THE  DUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE 

WAR 

PEESroENT  ROBERT  RUSSA  MOTON,  TUSKEGEE  INSTITUTE,  ALA. 

Hon.  Josephus  Daniels,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  a 
recent  address  said:  "We  have  done  more  for  democracy 
in  six  months  of  war  than  in  six  years  of  peace.  Our  sol- 
diers who  come  back  from  France  are  not  going  to  be  any- 
thing but  men;  for  in  this  war  we  are  establishing  a  new 
spirit  of  universal  equality  and  brotherhood." 

Truly  the  old  order  of  things  is  undergoing  a  radical 
change — a  change  which  is  bound  to  have  a  far-reaching 
effect  on  the  men  and  women  of  the  world  who  labor  with 
their  hands — and  I  know  of  no  organization  which  has  con- 
tributed so  much  toward  this  change  in  attitude  in  our  own 
country  as  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  an  organiza- 
tion which,  along  with  many  others  throughout  the  world, 
is  awakening  our  conscience  to  the  importance  of  fairer 
treatment  for  the  man  who  works.  They  are  teaching  us 
that  the  builder  of  a  house  is  as  much  to  be  respected  and 
honored  as  the  builder  of  a  good  poem ;  that  the  man  who 
executes  the  plans  of  the  architect  should  share  with  the 
architect  the  glory  of  the  completed  work.  We  are  also 
learning  that  the  man  who  digs  in  the  street,  provided  he 


220  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

gives  honest  and  conscientious  service,  deserves  as  much 
consideration  in  his  way  as  the  leaders  of  industry  who 
ride  on  the  same  streets  in  their  automobiles.  The  man  who 
sells  labor  of  good  quality,  whether  skilled,  semi-skilled,  or 
unskilled,  is  as  much  deserving  of  respect  as  the  man  who 
sells  groceries  or  dry  goods  or  who  sells  the  use  of  money 
through  the  bank  cashier's  window.  The  woman  who  cooks 
and  serves  economically  a  palatable  and  wholesome  meal 
from  a  clean,  well-ordered  kitchen  is  as  deserving  of  con- 
sideration as  the  woman  who  graces  the  drawing-room  and 
can  execute  acceptably  the  most  difficult  musical  selection. 

As  is  true  of  other  sections  of  the  country,  the  South 
is  called  upon  to  do  its  utmost  to  assist  in  winning  the  war. 
Every  resource,  every  agency  must  be  mobilized  and  used  in 
the  most  efficient  manner.  The  products  of  the  South  are 
playing  a  most  important  part  in  the  war.  It  is  from  the 
cotton  which  it  raises  that  a  great  part  of  the  clothing  used 
is  manufactured.  Cotton  also  enters  to  a  large  extent  into 
the  manufacture  of  munitions. 

A  great  part  of  the  timber  for  war  purposes,  including 
much  of  the  lumber  which  goes  into  the  hundreds  of  ships 
now  under  construction,  comes  from  the  South.  There  is 
the  great  nitrate  plant  on  the  Tennessee  River  on  which 
the  Government  is  spending  sixty  million  dollars  in  order 
to  produce  nitrogen  for  the  manufacture  of  munitions  and 
also  for  commercial  fertilizer.  There  are  also  the  products 
from  the  coal  and  iron  industries  of  this  district. 

Another  thing  that  the  South  is  called  upon  to  do  is  to 
produce  food  stuffs  in  such  quantities  as  it  has  never  hitherto 
done.  From  reliable  reports  we  find  that  the  South,  before 
we  entered  into  this  war,  was  importing  from  the  North 
almost  a  billion  dollars'  worth  of  food  products  annually. 
The  exigencies  of  the  war  are  such  that  we  have  curtailed 
this  importation  of  foods,  and  last  year  we  raised  almost 
enough  to  feed  ourselves.  The  slogan,  "The  South  Must 
Feed  Herself,"  has  virtually  become  a  reality. 

To  understand  the  labor  problem  back  of  the  South 
feeding  itself,  and  at  the  same  time  keeping  her  mines,  her 
factories,  and  other  increasingly  important  industries  in 


THE  DUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE  WAR       221 

operation,  it  is  necessary  to  call  attention  to  two  important 
facts :  In  the  first  place,  until  recently,  the  South  was  more 
or  less  a  one-crop  section — cotton.  In  the  second  place,  it 
has  been  the  custom  to  work  in  the  South  in  a  more  or  less 
leisurely  manner.  Partly  because  of  climatic  conditions, 
perhaps,  we  were  not  given  to  working  at  high  pressure, 
especially  in  hot  weather,  as  is  true  of  some  other  sections. 
The  South  is  now  seeing  the  imperative  necessity  of  work- 
ing at  higher  pressure  and  of  diversification  of  crops.  The 
importance  of  labor  in  this  connection  is  readily  seen.  The 
industrial  revolution  that  is  taking  place  in  the  South  has 
profoundly  affected  labor;  for  not  only  must  labor  do  old 
things  in  new  ways,  but  labor  must  work  six  days  in  the 
week  and  at  least  two  hundred  and  fifty  days  in  the  year. 
The  late  Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington  estimated  that  the  aver- 
age laborer  in  the  South  worked  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
days  in  the  year. 

A  few  weeks  ago  I  was  delivering  an  address  in  the 
interest  of  the  Thrift  Stamp  Campaign  in  Marengo  County. 
There  was  an  audience  of  perhaps  two  thousand  people, 
white  and  colored,  a  large  percentage  of  whom  were  colored 
farmers.  In  the  course  of  my  remarks  I  asked  how  many 
worked  every  Saturday  afternoon.  There  was  considerable 
laughter,  and  I  know  that  less  than  fifty  hands  were  raised. 
This  is  an  example  of  how  that  Southern  custom  of  taking 
a  half  holiday  off  on  Saturday  manifests  itself. 

I  am  told  that  many  manufacturing  and  industrial  con- 
cerns were  accustomed  to  carry  from  twenty  to  fifty  per 
cent  more  men  on  their  pay  rolls  than  would  be  at  work 
each  day,  so  that  the  number  of  workers  needed  daily  would 
be  on  hand.  Here,  then,  are  two  respects  in  which  Southern 
labor  can  do  its  duty  in  helping  to  win  the  war  and  pros- 
perity after  the  war — namely,  it  can  work  regularly  and 
accomplish  more  in  a  day  than  it  has  been  accustomed  to  do. 

There  was  recently  held  at  the  Ttiskegee  Institute  a 
meeting  of  the  Negro  Farm  Demonstration  Agents  for  the 
State  of  Alabama.  A  campaign  was  launched  in  that  meet- 
ing to  encourage  the  Negro  farmers  of  the  State  to  work 
six  days  in  the  week.    It  was  estimated  that  if  this  is  done 


222  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

the  farm  production  in  the  State  would  be  increased  at 
least  16  2-3  per  cent.  I  am  pleased  to  report  that  the  farm- 
ers of  the  State  are  responding  to  this  appeal,  and  are 
agreeing  to  work  the  entire  six  days  in  order  that  produc- 
tion may  be  increased.  I  am  convinced  that,  in  spite  of  its 
handicaps  and  shortcomings,  NIegro  labor  can  be  depended 
upon  to  do  its  duty  to  the  extent  that  it  understands  and 
appreciates  what  its  duty  is  and,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the 
opportunity  to  do  it. 

One  of  the  strongest  appeals  in  getting  Negro  labor  to 
do  its  duty  at  the  present  time  is  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  thousands  of  our  countrymen,  black  men  as  well  as 
white  men,  who  have  been  drafted  into  the  army  and  are 
being  sent  to  France  are  dependent  upon  those  who  remain 
behind  for  their  food,  their  clothing,  and  all  of  those  things 
which  are  essential  for  a  soldier  in  active  service.  When 
labor  in  the  South  fully  appreciates  this  and  realizes  its 
duty,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  rise  to  the 
occasion  and  do  everything  that  is  possible  to  be  done  in 
the  way  of  sustained  work  and  increased  efficiency. 

We  sometimes  overlook,  I  fear,  the  importance  of  Negro 
labor  to  the  development  of  the  South.  More  than  one-third 
of  all  the  labor  in  the  South  is  performed  by  Negroes,  and 
practically  all  of  the  rough  work  is  done  by  them.  In  spite 
of  the  migration  to  the  North,  there  are  still  probably  two 
million  Negroes  working  on  the  farms  as  hired  hands  or  as 
independent  farmers,  croppers,  renters,  or  independent 
owners.  Here  is  a  tremendous  amount  of  labor,  and  in  it  are 
tremendous  possibilities.  The  large  number  of  Negro 
laborers  and  the  vast  territory  they  occupy  make  a  serious 
and  important  question  not  only  for  the  South,  but  for  the 
whole  country. 

The  late  Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington  said  that,  in  his 
opinion,  this  mass  of  Negro  labor  is  an  undiscovered  gold 
mine.  "How  to  improve  the  efficiency  of  these  two  million 
black  farmers,"  he  said,  "is  one  of  the  problems  that  now 
confront  the  South."  Recent  development  indicates  that 
the  North  has  discovered  and  tapped  this  "mine  of  gold" 
and  drawn  off  a  great  deal  of  valuable  material  from  it. 


THE  DUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE  WAR       223 

The  prosperity  of  the  South  is  bound  up  with  the 
improvement  of  the  Negro.  Just  in  proportion  as  he 
becomes  more  efficient,  reliable,  and  dependable  will  the 
prosperity  of  the  South  be  increased,  for  it  must  be  kept  in 
mind  that  two-thirds  of  all  the  land  tilled  in  the  South  is 
cultivated  by  Negro  labor.  One-tenth  of  all  the  farm  prop- 
erty in  the  South  is  owned  by  Negroes.  If  the  efficiency  of 
the  Negro  in  the  South  is  increased,  say  twenty-five  per 
cent ;  if  his  farming  methods  are  improved  so  that  the  aver- 
age number  of  bales  of  cotton  that  he  raises  will  be 
increased  one-fourth,  the  amount  of  corn  that  he  raises  be 
doubled,  and  the  bushels  of  sweet  potatoes  and  other  crops 
be  proportionately  increased — all  of  which  are  possible — 
the  agricultural  wealth  of  the  South  would  be  increased 
by  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  and  a  billion  dollars  would 
be  added  annually  to  its  agricultural*  wealth. 

In  some  quarters  questions  are  being  raised  just  now 
about  the  indifference  of  Negro  labor  to  the  needs  of  the 
hour,  and  it  is  charged  that  many  hundreds  of  them  are 
idling  while  the  work  necessary  to  win  the  war  is  crying 
to  be  done.  Discussing  this,  a  writer  on  Negro  migration 
said  that  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  everj^  employer  with  whom  he 
talked  complained  of  his  need  of  labor.  "Yet,"  said  this 
writer,  "on  every  prominent  thoroughfare  husky  Negroes 
and  able-bodied  white  men  sauntered  along  or  could  be 
found  in  numbers  in  pool  rooms  and  other  resorts." 

It  would  appear  that  a  number  of  the  white  people  and 
the  black  people  of  the  South  have  not  as  yet  been  impressed 
with  the  necessity  of  persistent  industry.  This  Congress 
and  every  other  agency  must  help  in  the  effort  to  get  all 
available  and  potential  labor  on  a  war  basis,  in  order  that 
every  one  capable  of  laboring  shall  do  his  best  and  that  the 
South  may  do  her  full  share  in  helping  to  "make  the  world 
safe  for  democracy." 

The  most  serious  charge  made  against  Negro  labor  is 
that  it  is  not  dependable.  Wherever  shiftlessness  and  unre- 
liability exist,  it  is  due  largely,  in  my  opinion,  to  lack  of  edu- 
cation. Few  people  of  any  class  or  race  will  work  six  days 
in  the  week,  when  two  or  three  days'  work  will  satisfy  their 


224  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

demands.  Education  will  not  only  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  labor,  but  it  will  also  increase  his  wants,  and  as  a 
result  cause  him  to  work  more  regnlarly. 

For  twenty-five  years  I  have  lived  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  Newport  News  Shipbuilding  and  Dry  Dock  Company, 
at  Newport  News,  Va.,  and  am  fairly  well  acquainted  with 
their  labor  situation,  especially  as  it  relates  to  the  Negro. 

This  firm  employs  about  four  thousand  Negro  laborers, 
of  whom  about  eight  hundred  are  boys,  who  are  used  as 
heaters,  holders-on,  and  riveters.  Something  like  an  aver- 
age of  eighty-seven  of  these  boys  were  absent  from  their 
work  every  day,  and  Mr.  H.  L.  Ferguson,  the  manager  of 
the  company,  undertook  to  devise  some  plan  whereby  they 
could  be  induced  to  work  more  regularly.  A  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  was  established  by  the  company  and 
a  night  school  was  maintained  for  their  benefit.  The  Negro 
banks  in  Virginia  also  began  a  campaign  among  them  to 
encourage  them  to  save  their  money  and  start  bank 
accounts.  Through  these  influences,  I  am  glad  to  say,  the 
absences  have  been  reduced  to  from  a  daily  average  of 
eighty-seven  to  nine  each  day.  Thus  it  is  that  in  propor- 
tion as  these  boys  became  educated  and  independent  through 
their  savings,  their  wants  were  correspondingly  increased 
and  they  became  more  reliable  and  more  efficient. 

This  is  an  example  of  how  the  welfare  work  around 
industrial  plants  helps  to  increase  the  efficiency  and  con- 
tentedness  of  the  men.  Such  work  is  always  a  good  invest- 
ment. Mr.  Ferguson  told  me  that  every  one  of  these  boys 
was  regularly  employed  as  a  helper  for  one  of  the  skilled 
laborers,  and  when  the  boys  were  absent  from  work  it 
simply  meant  that  the  work  of  the  organization  was  inter- 
rupted to  the  equivalent  of  the  absence  of  from  two  to  three 
hundred  men. 

Other  organizations  that  have  been  experimenting  with 
this  welfare  work  are  the  American  Cast  Iron  Pipe  Com- 
pany, of  Birmingham,  and  the  Tennessee  Coal  and  Iron  Com- 
pany. These  companies,  I  understand,  are  working  on  the 
principle  that  the  best  results  may  be  obtained  from  their 
laborers  in  proportion  as  they  are  well  cared  for;  in  pro- 


THE  DUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE  WAR       225 

portion  as  they  have  educational  facilities,  comfortable 
homes,  and  their  general  welfare  conserved. 

Only  last  week  I  had  a  letter  from  the  American  Alumi- 
num Company,  at  IMaryville,  Tenn.,  and  they  sent  me  a  group 
of  pictures  shov/ing  model  homes  they  have  erected  for  the 
colored  men  employed  by  them.  There  was  a  picture  of  a 
community  hall  and  an  athletic  field,  where  the  men  had 
an  opportunity  to  enjoy  recreation  and  healthful  sports 
after  their  work  was  over. 

We  had  a  similar  letter  from  the  American  Cyanamid 
Company,  in  Brewster,  Florida,  asking  us  to  recommend 
a  capable  and  efficient  welfare  secretary  to  take  charge  of 
the  welfare  work  among  the  several  hundred  colored  men 
employed  at  their  factory.  These  firms  are  expending 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in  preparing  good  schools 
and  other  welfare  facilities  for  the  general  welfare  of  their 
employees.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  company  that  takes 
such  interest  in  its  laborers  was  seriously  affected  by  the 
migration  of  Negroes  to  the  North  during  the  past  two  or 
three  years.  Employers  of  Negro  labor  are  seeing  the 
importance  of  making  their  laborers  contented  by  giving 
them  education  and  thereby  increasing  their  wants. 

What  has  been  done  around  these  industrial  plants  for 
the  welfare  of  their  laborers  can  just  as  well  be  done  by 
the  plantation  owners  who  employ  farm  labor. 

Near  Tuskegee  there  is  a  large  plantation  owner,  Mr. 
W.  E.  Huddleston,  who  runs  125  plows.  He  told  me  some 
days  ago  that  he  had  not  lost  a  single  tenant  through  migra- 
tion. This  is  in  contrast  with  the  experience  of  hundreds 
of  planters  throughout  the  South.  When  I  inquired  as  to 
the  reasons  for  this,  Mr.  Huddleston  said  that  he  had 
endeavored  in  all  respects  to  treat  his  labor  right. 

The  South  has  lost  much  of  its  most  valuable  labor 
through  migration.  The  principal  reasons  for  this,  so  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  are  mainly  two:  High 
wages  in  the  North  and  dissatisfaction  with  conditions  in 
the  South.  Both  in  the  North  and  here  in  the  South  I 
have  had  opportunity  to  talk  with  many  persons  concerning 
their  reasons  for  migrating  or  wanting  to  migrate.    They 

15 


226  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

have  invariably  told  me  that  they  would  much  rather  live 
in  the  South  than  in  the  North,  provided  they  could  get  from 
one-half  to  two-thirds  the  wages  here  that  they  get  there 
and  were  assured  of  adequate  educational  facilities  and  fair 
and  just  treatment  in  the  South. 

Going  more  into  the  details  of  the  causes  of  the  migra- 
tion of  Negroes  to  the  North,  I  find  that  not  a  few  of  the 
best  colored  laborers  have  left  the  farms  because  of  the  poor 
houses  furnished.  In  the  city  he  may  have  a  harder  time 
in  other  respects,  but  he  can  generally  find  a  reasonably 
comfortable  house  in  which  to  live. 

Still  another  reason  why  so  many  Negroes  have  left  the 
farms  is  that  they  want  their  children  to  have  an  education. 
A  large  and  valuable  element  of  colored  labor  has  left  the 
farms  because  education  could  not  be  secured  in  many  cases. 

We  have  just  held  at  Tuskegee  Institute  a  meeting  of  the 
rural  school  supervisors  working  under  the  Anna  T.  Jeanes 
Foundation,  of  which  Dr.  James  H.  Dillard  is  the  President. 
I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  reports  on  school  condi- 
tions at  this  meeting,  and  especially  the  improvements  which 
are  being  made  by  the  building  of  good  schoolhouses  and 
the  lengthening  of  school  terms.  On  the  other  hand,  I  was 
disappointed  with  the  large  number  of  reports  of  instances 
of  communities  where,  during  the  past  year,  no  schools 
were  in  operation,  or  they  ran  for  only  six  weeks  or  two 
or  three  months.  I  am  sure  that  the  people  in  these  com- 
munities are  not  satisfied  with  their  educational  facilities, 
and  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  many  of  them  should  leave 
in  order  to  get  elsewhere  those  educational  facilities  that 
are  not  available  at  their  homes. 

Just  now  the  South  is  forced  into  strong  competition 
with  other  sections  of  the  country  to  secure  the  services  of 
Negro  labor.  This  means  that  if  the  South  is  to  retain  the 
use  of  this  labor  it  must,  like  the  great  manufacturing  con- 
cerns, make  provision  for  the  general  welfare  of  its  labor 
and  provide  educational  and  other  facilities  that  will  tend 
to  make  this  labor  satisfied,  contented,  and  in  the  end  more 
efficient. 


THE  DUTY  OF  SOUTHERN  LABOR  DURING  THE  WAR       227 

Just  recently  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 
issued  a  very  valuable  and  illuminating  report  on  "Negro 
Education."  In  this  report  Dr.  Thomas  Jesse  Jones,  the 
compiler,  in  discussing  the  importance  of  the  Negro  to 
Southern  industry,  said: 

"The  South  is  rich  in  economic  resources,  but  poor  both 
in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  its  labor  supply.  'What  the 
South  most  needs,'  said  a  well-known  writer  of  that  section, 
'is  not  new  discoveries,  but  the  application  of  what  is 
known.'  .  Man,  not  nature,  is  at  fault.  The  industrial  edu- 
cation of  both  the  white  and  colored  youth  is  undoubtedly 
the  most  important  element  in  the  economic  development 
of  that  section. 

"The  Southern  people  are  just  beginning  to  appreciate 
the  remarkable  economic  possibilities  of  their  States.  The 
United  States  Geological  Survey  reports  that  one-fifth  of 
all  the  mineral  output  of  the  country  is  from  the  Southern 
States.  The  Forest  Service  reports  that  the  South,  with  a 
magnificent  belt  of  pines  stretching  from  Virginia  to  Texas, 
ranging  in  width  from  150  to  200  miles,  is  the  chief  lumber- 
producing  region  of  the  country.  In  addition,  it  is  esti- 
mated that  the  waterfalls  have  a  capacity  of  10,000,000 
horsepower,  of  which  only  a  relatively  small  amount  has 
been  harnessed  for  factory  purposes.  The  value  of  the 
present  output  of  mineral  and  lumber  resources  is  but  a 
small  part  of  the  possible  production.  Even  now,  it  is  but 
a  fraction  of  the  agricultural  production  of  these  States. 
Cotton  alone  has  an  annual  valuation  of  fully  three-quarters 
of  a  billion  dollars. 

"An  analysis  of  the  population  of  the  Southern  States 
makes  it  certain  that  the  hope  of  the  South  for  an  improved 
labor  supply  is  not  immigration,  but  the  effective  education 
of  their  white  and  colored  youth.  After  all  the  years  of  tre- 
mendous immigration  to  America,  the  South  had  in  1910 
only  726,171  persons  of  foreign  birth.  The  proportion  of 
the  immigration  stream  going  to  the  South  has  long  been 
less  than  five  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  immigrants. 
The  inevitable  conclusion  is,  therefore,  that  the  two  great 
sources  of  labor  in  the  South  are  the  more  than  twenty 


228  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

million  native  white  persons  and  the  nine  million  Negroes. 
Recent  evidence  indicates  the  possibility  that  the  supply  of 
Negro  labor  is  threatened  by  the  increasing  tide  to  the 
North. 

"I  am  laying  special  emphasis  upon  the  necessity  of  more 
education  for  the  Negro  because,  after  all  is  said  and  done, 
the  most  successful,  the  most  reliable,  the  most  influen- 
tial element  in  the  Negro  race,  as  in  every  race,  is  the  edu- 
cated class.  It  is  this  class  that  has  had  the  greatest  influ- 
ence for  caution  and  conservatism;  who  have  been  most 
patient  and  most  persistent  in  their  efforts  to  fit  the  whole 
Negi'o  race  for  freedom  and  citizenship  in  the  broadest 
sense.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  best  means  of  bringing  about 
a  more  cordial,  sympathetic,  and  helpful  relationship 
between  the  two  races  is  through  systematic  training  and 
practical  education  for  both  races.  This  means  loyalty  and 
efficiency.  Our  struggle,  then,  to  bring  all  the  laborers  in 
the  South  to  the  point  where  they  will  do  their  duty  in  this 
world  crisis  turns  upon  the  ability  of  the  South  to  feed, 
clothe,  and  properly  house  this  labor:  to  train  it  intelli- 
gently, morally,  and  spiritually.  For  this  training,  the 
white  people,  the  directing  class,  must  see  that  all  labor, 
black  as  well  as  white,  has  full  and  complete  opportunity 
to  get  the  very  best,  broadest,  deepest,  and  highest  that  the 
Creator  has  given  to  all  mankind." 

All  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  we  should  be  fair  to  the  hewers  of  wood  and 
the  drawers  of  water,  not  merely  because  they  may  hew 
more  vv'ood  and  draw  more  water,  but  that  they  may  be 
encouraged  to  look  forward  to  that  day  when  they,  through 
efficiency  and  reliability,  may  be  able  to  hew  wood  from 
their  own  land  and  enjoy  the  fruits  from  their  own  labor 
under  their  own  "vine  and  fig  tree."  This  ideal  will  not  be 
attained  by  all  of  our  laborers,  either  black  or  white,  but 
it  is  a  "door  of  hope"  which  should  be  opened  to  every 
American,  North  and  South.  It  is  this  door  of  hope  which 
will,  in  my  opinion,  induce  and  encourage  and  inspire  to 
reach  the  highest  possible  degree  of  reliability  and 
eflficiency. 


LABOR'S  CHALLENGE  TO  DEMOCRACY  229 


LABOR'S  CHALLENGE  TO  DEMOCRACY 

HON.    FRANK    MORRISON,    SECRETARY   AMERICAN    FEDERATION 

OF  LABOR 

With  our  country  engaged  in  a  war  that  it  may  maintain 
the  heritage  of  its  forefathers,  organized  labor  takes  its 
stand  with  every  other  American  institution  and  individual. 
While  there  may  be  some  small  unpatriotic  influences  in  this 
country,  I  cannot  but  believe  that  this  influence  will  become 
totally  negative  as  the  war  progresses  and  our  countrymen 
better  understand  the  issues  involved. 

Man  is  too  prone  to  overlook  the  Vital  for  the  super- 
ficial. He  is  liable,  for  instance,  to  be  attracted  by  elements 
of  incompetency  or  corruption  that  are  more  or  less  insep- 
arable from  war,  and  ignore  the  stupendous  things  our  coun- 
try has  accomplished  since  April  6,  1917. 

Other  nations  may  question  our  right  to  the  claim  that 
America  has  placed  four  million  men  under  arms,  built  can- 
tonments and  camps,  and  placed  itself  on  a  military  basis 
quicker  than  any  other  people  imbued  with  the  doctrine  of 
peace.  But  no  nation  in  all  history  can  point  to  the  decla- 
rations of  its  authorized  spokesman  and  show  where  he  has 
so  repeatedly  emphasized  the  views  of  his  fellow  countrymen 
that  they  war  for  peace  and  without  selfish  aim.  Our  Presi- 
dent has  revolutionized  international  statesmanship  and 
diplomacy,  and  our  Allies  now  see  the  folly  and  uselessness 
of  former  practices  that  made  this  world  an  armed  camp. 

No  element  in  our  national  life  realizes  the  value  of 
freedom  and  democracy  to  a  greater  extent  than  does  the 
organized  labor  movement.  These  principles  are  the  bed 
rock  upon  which  our  structure  rests.  Our  movement  is  a 
continued  protest  against  autocracy,  be  it  political  or  indus- 
trial, and  when  our  Government  calls  for  support  in  its 
present  hour  the  organized  workers  respond  because  they 
are  American  citizens  and  because  they  must  be  true  to 
their  trade  union  principles. 

It  should  not  be  understood  that  the  unorganized  wage 
worker,  in  factory  or  office,  is  less  patriotic  than  members 


230  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

of  trade  unions.  Assuming  these  two  elements  to  be  imbued 
with  the  same  patriotic  ideals,  the  organized  worker  is  of 
greater  value  to  his  country  because  of  his  ability  to  work 
with  others,  his  faculty  for  "teamwork."  Our  Govern- 
ment has  realized  this  point,  and  in  all  affairs  affecting  the 
interest  of  wage  workers  the  Government  has  consulted  with 
organized  workers,  and  has  appointed  these  workers  on  its 
various  high  commissions,  committees,  and  boards. 

While  the  trade  union  movement  is  devoting  every 
energy  to  patriotic  work,  it  believes  that  patriotism  does 
not  consist  entirely  in  repelling  those  who  would  attack 
from  the  outside  our  democratic  form  of  government. 
Other  opponents  to  real  democracy  and  sound  citizenship 
are  those  who  would  lower  working  standards  and  be  given 
a  free  hand  in  the  employment  of  women,  the  mothers  of 
children,  who  will  be  the  nation  of  to-morrow.  On  this 
subject  representatives  of  the  national  and  international 
unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
said:  "The  guarantees  of  human  conservation  should  be 
recognized  in  war  as  well  as  in  peace." 

This  statement  was  made  on  March  12,  1917,  vv^hen 
these  trade  union  officials,  meeting  in  Washington, 
announced  that,  while  the  trade  union  movement  abhorred 
war,  it  was  behind  the  Government  in  this  hour  of  peril, 
come  what  may. 

President  Wilson  quickly  sensed  the  danger  of  destroy- 
ing or  even  weakening  standards  of  labor  secured  after 
years  of  effort,  and  in  an  address  to  trade  union  officials  on 
May  15,  1917,  six  weeks  after  the  declaration  that  a  state 
of  war  exists  with  Germany,  he  said:  "I  have  been  very 
much  alarmed  at  one  or  two  things  that  have  happened  at 
the  apparent  inclination  of  the  Legislatures  of  one  or  two 
of  our  States  to  set  aside  even  temporarily  the  laws  which 
have  safeguarded  standards  of  labor  and  of  life.  1  think 
nothing  could  be  more  deplorable  than  that.  We  are  trying 
to  fight  in  a  cause  which  means  the  lifting  of  the  standards 
of  life,  and  we  can  fight  in  that  cause  best  by  voluntary 
cooperation.  I  do  not  doubt  that  any  body  of  men  repre- 
senting labor  in  this  country  speaking  for  their  fellows  will 


LABOR'S  CHALLENGE  TO  DEMOCRACY  231 

be  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice  that  is  necessary  in  order 
to  carry  this  contest  to  a  successful  issue,  and  in  that  confi- 
dence I  feel  that  it  would  be  inexcusable  if  we  deprived  men 
and  women  of  such  a  spirit  of  any  of  the  existing  safeguards 
of  law.  Therefore  I  shall  exercise  my  influence  so  far  as  it 
goes  to  see  that  that  does  not  happen,  and  that  the  sacrifices 
we  make  shall  be  made  voluntarily  and  not  under  the  com- 
pulsion which  mistakenly  is  interpreted  to  mean  a  lowering 
of  the  standards  which  we  have  sought  through  so  many 
generations  to  bring  to  their  present  level." 

The  government  has  indicated  that  it  intends  to  main- 
tain labor  standards,  and  the  Council  of  National  Defense 
has  stated  that  before  standards  are  reduced  it  should  pass 
upon  the  question.  Labor  will  accept  the  word  of  President 
Wilson,  but  not  the  word  of  those  employers,  their  represen- 
tatives in  Congress  and  their  newspapers,  that  are  always 
found  behind  every  reactionary  move  in  support  of  the  dol- 
lar as  against  the  man, 

I  believe  labor's  position  is  understood  and  appreciated 
by  sound  thinking  citizens,  who  have  noted  that,  despite 
calls  for  the  abolition  of  labor  standards,  the  Government 
has  assisted  during  the  past  two  months,  through  mediation 
processes,  in  placing  the  Northwest  lumber  industry  on  the 
eight-hour  basis.  The  nation's  packing  industry  will  go  on 
a  basic  eight-hour  day  shortly,  through  a  decision  by  an 
arbiter  selected  by  Secretary  Wilson,  of  the  Labor  Depart- 
ment. 

The  placing  of  these  important  industries  on  the  shorter 
work-day  basis  indicates  that  our  Government  accepts  the 
investigations  of  the  British  Government,  which  discovered, 
after  practical  tests,  that  long  hours  is  no  answer  to  the 
demand  for  increased  war  munitions. 

The  packing  house  industry  of  this  country  has  been 
revolutionized.  In  past  years  representatives  of  the  packing 
houses  refused  to  permit  their  employes  to  organize,  but 
through  the  efforts  of  the  trade  union  movement  and  a  com- 
mission appointed  by  President  Wilson  that  industry  has 
been  placed  upon  the  basic  eight-hour  day,  with  price  and  a 
quarter  for  overtime  up  to  ten  hours  and  price  and  a  half 
for  ten  hours,  with  a  substantial  increase  in  wages. 


232  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

COMPULSORY    EDUCATION 

The  labor  movement  has  been  persistent  in  its  agitation 
for  free  schools,  free  text  books,  and  compulsory  education. 
As  a  result  of  the  agitation,  every  State  has  now  a  com- 
pulsory education  law.  Notwithstanding  that  fact.  Secre- 
tary Lane,  in  a  communication  to  Senator  Hoke  Smith, 
Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Education  and  Labor, 
said  that  the  number  of  persons  in  America  that  cannot 
read  and  write  is  almost  unbelievable.  "There  are  in  the 
United  States,"  Secretary  Lane  said,  "or  were  when  the 
census  was  taken  in  1910,  5,516,163  persons  over  ten  years 
of  age  who  were  unable  to  read  or  write  in  any  language. 
There  are  now  nearly  700,000  men  of  draft  age  in  the  United 
States  who  cannot  read 'or  write  in  English  or  any  other  , 
language.  Over  4,000,000  of  ttie  illiterates  in  this  country 
are  twenty  years  of  age  or  more.  It  would  seem  to  be  almost 
axiomatic  that  an  illiterate  man  cannot  make  a  good  soldier 
in  modern  warfare.  Until  last  April  the  regular  army  would 
not  enlist  illiterates,  yet  in  the  first  draft  between  30,000 
and  40,000  illiterates  were  brought  into  the  army  and 
approximately  as  many  near-illiterates.  They  cannot  sign 
their  names.  They  cannot  read  their  orders  posted  daily 
on  bulletin  boards  in  camps.  They  cannot  read  their  manual 
of  arms.  They  cannot  read  their  letters  or  write  home. 
They  cannot  understand  the  signals  or  follow  the  signal 
corps  in  time  of  battle." 

The  trade  union  movement  opposes  the  conscription  of 
labor  unless  wealth  is  likewise  conscripted.  The  claim  that 
labor  should  be  conscripted  on  the  same  theory  that  the 
country  drafts  its  citizens  for  universal  service  is  a  ridicu- 
lous assertion.  The  Government  conscripts  its  citizens  for 
service;  the  employer  would  conscript  for  exploitation. 
Courts  have  repeatedly  drawn  a  sharp  line  between  civilian 
and  military  life ;  and  while  in  theory  no  one  can  deny  the 
Government's  right  to  draft  any  citizen  for  any  purpose 
it  sees  fit  when  the  nation's  life  is  in  jeopardy,  the  dollar 
should  be  forced  to  surrender  its  per  cent  rights,  just  as 
labor  would  be  called  upon  to  surrender  its  right  of  freedom. 


LABOR'S  CHALLENGE  TO  DEMOCRACY  233 

Labor  notified  these  elements  that  urge  conscription  of  labor 
that  it  will  go  farther  than  they  will  and  that  it  will  be  the 
first  to  accept  the  Government's  dictum — if  that  time  ever 
comes — that  every  ounce  of  man  power  and  every  dollar  and 
other  evidence  of  wealth  must  be  thrown  in  the  common  lot 
with  every  citizen  on  soldiers'  rations  that  the  Nation 
may  live. 

We  notify  these  employers  and  their  spokesmen  in  the 
United  States  Senate  that  they  cannot  use  the  war  to  estab- 
lish principles  of  peonage  that  they  long  for  when  the  days 
of  peace  return,  while  they  insist  on  interest  and  on  the 
establishment  of  depreciation  funds  so  that  when  the  war 
ends  it  will  be  found  that  they  have  not  only  maintained 
well-rounded  profits  during  this  period  of  stress,  but  that 
the  people  have  paid  for  their  equipment  to  make  these 
profits. 

The  claim  made  in  the  United  States  Senate  a  few  days 
ago  that  labor  is  not  doing  its  share  in  this  war  is  not  sup- 
ported by  men  less  interested  in  publicity  than  in  securing 
facts.  These  claims  possess  a  value,  however.  They  con- 
ceal deplorable  working  conditions,  lack  of  housing,  and  a 
labor  turnover  that  has  amounted  in  some  cases  to  seven 
men  for  every  job  in  one  month.  Labor  suggests  that  strikes 
can  be  removed  by  removing  causes  for  strikes.  We  protest 
when  it  is  charged  that  labor  will  strike  without  reason, 
and  when  conditions  are  satisfactory,  for  if  our  workers 
were  so  lacking  in  patriotism  then  our  Nation  rests  on  a 
foundation  of  sand. 

The  trade  unionist's  remedy  for  strikes  is  a  calm  and 
dispassionate  discussion  of  reasons  for  this  condition,  and 
then  prompt  application  of  the  remedy. 

We  appreciate,  however,  the  mental  attitude  of  men  who 
urge  conscription  of  labor.  They  realize  the  changing 
orders  from  the  day  when  workers  were  looked  upon  as 
separate  and  apart  from  other  portions  of  society,  when 
workers  were  but  "hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water," 
without  voice  and  denied  any  part  in  the  affairs  of  our 
country.  It  is  impossible  to  stay  progress,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  reestablish  former  conditions  and  former  ideals. 


234  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

In  this  world  crisis  labor  only  asks  for  conditions  that 
will  permit  it  to  maintain  its  productive  powers  and  equip 
the  coming  generation  with  an  education.  Labor  takes  its 
stand  with  every  other  American  in  this  world  struggle  for 
right.  With  a  triumphant  peace  none  will  gain  more  than 
the  men  and  women  of  labor,  for  they  realize  that  with  the 
acceptance  of  every  democratic  ideal  the  wage-earner,  who 
has  emerged  from  the  age-long  serf,  down-trodden  and 
denied,  will  be  morally,  spiritually,  and  materially  advanced. 


AN  OPEN  DOOR  TO  INDUSTRY  ON  THE  BASIS  OF 

EFFICIENCY 

BISHOP  THEODORE  D.  BRATTON,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  JACKSON,  MISS. 

The  presence  of  a  large  number  of  any  race  in  the 
midst  of  another  and  distinct  race  of  itself  creates  a  grave 
problem.  When  the  white  man  settled  upon  American  soil 
he  became  an  immediate  problem  to  the  aborigines.  The 
Indians  in  turn  have  become  a  problem  to  the  new  nation. 
The  presence  of  Americans  in  China  and  Japan  is  prob- 
ably as  distinctly  a  problem  as  our  Chinese  and  Japanese 
citizens  are  to  us.  And  what  is  said  of  these  peoples  is 
equally  true  of  America  and  Africa,  of  the  whites  in  the 
latter  and  the  negroes  in  the  former.  The  problem  is  not 
solved  by  declaring  the  fact  that  the  different  races  are 
still  men,  members  of  one  family,  and  therefore  to  be 
treated  simply  as  men.  It  is  out  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
men,  but  different  as  much  in  racial  characteristics — e.  g., 
color — that  the  problem  arises,  and  increases  in  propor- 
tion to  the  closeness  of  contact  of  the  racial  groups.  It 
becomes  increasingly  difficult  of  solution  because  the  issue 
even  in  two  counties  of  a  single  State  is  not  the  same.  For 
a  full  and  philosophic  study  of  the  problem  as  such,  I  refer 
you  to  Dr.  Edgar  Gardner  Murphy's  "The  Basis  of  Ascend- 
ancy." Dr.  Murphy's  book  will  furnish  the  foundation  for 
sane  study  of  the  negro  problem  for  an  indefinite  time  to 
come.     The  principles  which  he  lays  down  are  of  perma- 


OPEN  DOOR  TO  INDUSTRY  ON  BASIS  OF  EFFICIENCY       235 

nent  value,  whatever  the  details  of  superstructure  which 
may  be  built  upon  them.  His  books,  from  which  I  will 
often  quote,  should  live  as  the  work  of  a  great  teacher  of 
teachers  of  both  the  races  concerned. 

Not  the  least  important  phase  of  this  greatest  of  Ameri- 
can problems  is  that  which  my  subject  introduces,  "An 
Open  Door  to  Industry  on  the  Basis  of  Efficiency."  This 
stands  at  the  heart  of  the  matter;  for  whatever  justice 
there  may  be  in  the  claim  of  social  or  political  rights,  the 
claim  of  fundamental  right  to  earn  one's  bread,  under  the 
happiest  and  most  wholesome  conditions  possible  to  us, 
must  ever  be  unquestioned.  The  so-called  "social  right"  is 
a  misnomer,  since  it  is  bestowed  by  no  greater  authority 
than  the  mutual  consent  and  the  mutual  pleasure  of  the 
socially  related.  The  "political  right"  is  not  now,  and  never 
has  been,  the  inherent  possession  of  anybody  or  any  race 
or  gender  or  class.  But  the  right  to  labor  and  to  live  is  in- 
herent and  can  only  rightly  be  denied  or  abridged  for  grave 
cause  by  organized  society.  I  cannot  speak  from  a  legal 
viewpoint,  but  from  a  moral  one  it  is  clear  to  me  that  if 
the  laws  of  the  land  should  approve  the  law  of  the  labor 
union  which  denies  the  right  of  employment  to  a  nonunion 
man  such  approval  would  be  a  moral  iniquity.  It  would 
mean  the  ostracism  by  organized  force  of  classes  and  indi- 
viduals from  the  company  of  workers,  which  is  coterminous 
with  the  family  made  by  God  for  toil. 

If  we  are  to  discuss  in  a  limited  time  and  space  a  theme 
whose  details  would  require  volumes,  I  think  we  had  best 
plunge  at  once  into  the  middle  of  it. 

What,  first,  should  be  the  attitude  of  the  older,  stronger 
race  toward  the  weaker  and  more  dependent  one?  Every 
chivalrous  instinct  in  the  stronger  should,  and  ultimately 
must,  revolt  against  the  thought  of  oppression  or  suppres- 
sion of  the  weaker.  We  have  listened  to  an  address  on 
racial  integrity.  In  order  to  preserve  it,  fixed  racial  atti- 
tudes and  perhaps  definite  laws  may  both  be  needed  as 
growing  conditions  demand.  But  the  strong  race  will  be 
eager  to  make  both  attitude  and  law  protective  and  pre- 


236  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

servative  of  the  character  and  integrity  of  each  race,  and 
careful  to  guard  against  injustice  and  suppression  toward 
the  weaker.  It  has  been  a  matter  of  profound  satisfaction 
to  me  to  observe  how  strongly  and  sanely  the  principle  of 
race  integrity  has  taken  root  in  the  minds  of  the  negro 
leaders,  and  how  patiently  and  wisely  the  laws  for  social 
safety  have  been  more  and  more  rightly  interpreted  by 
them.  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  door  to  industry  will 
be  more  and  more  widely  opened  as  the  realization  of  racial 
integrity,  as  God's  will  for  us,  is  more  perfectly  attained. 
Nothing  will  more  surely  dispel  the  illusion,  so  commonly 
the  thought  of  the  masses  of  our  white  race,  that  protec- 
tion of  the  white  against  the  social  or  industrial  aggres- 
sions of  the  negro  is  necessary  and  therefore  desirable. 
When  integrity  of  race  is  realized  to  be  the  dominant  pas- 
sion of  the  negro,  as  I  believe  it  to  be  so  certainly  of  the 
educated  class  of  his  race,  the  law  of  competition  will  be- 
come less  and  less  applied  to  racial  conditions,  and  more 
and  more  the  familiar  law  which  controls  all  industries  and 
all  labor.  But  this  passion  for  racial  integrity  is  created 
and  fostered  only  by  racial  self-respect,  itself  the  outcome 
of  racial  achievement  and  success.  "It  becomes  strange  to 
us,"  says  Dr.  Murphy,  "that  any  one  should  ever  have  im- 
agined that  we  could  promote  the  self-respect  of  one  race 
by  weakening  the  self-respect  of  the  other."  We  must 
therefore  seek  to  disillusion  the  masses  of  our  white  race 
who  imagine  that  any  race  can  climb  upon  the  prostrate 
hopes  and  ambitions  of  another.  The  fruit  of  earnest,  self- 
sacrificing  toil  may  be  material  success,  but  it  is  still  more 
the  self-respect  which  the  conscious  ability  to  toil  success- 
fully creates. 

It  seems  to  me  so  clearly  true  that  I  find  it  difficult  to 
see  it  from  any  other  angle,  that  the  only  wise  policy  for 
the  South  is  to  seek  that  sound  and  rounded  development 
of  the  negro  which,  in  making  him  increasingly  the  mas- 
ter of  himself,  will  secure  for  the  races  an  intelligent  and 
permanent  differentiation,  I  believe  this  policy  will  eventu- 
ally prevail  as  the  white  South  advances  and  the  possibili- 


OPEN  DOOR  TO  INDUSTRY  ON  BASIS  OF  EFFICIENCY       237 

ties  of  aggression  from  the  side  of  the  negro  are  discov- 
ered to  be  far  more  remote  than  was  once  thought.  I  quote 
again  from  Dr.  Murphy:  "The  perils  involved  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  negro  are  as  nothing  compared  to  the  perils 
invited  by  his  failure.  If  any  race  is  to  live,  it  must  have 
something  to  live  for.  It  will  hardly  cling  with  pride  to  its 
race  integrity,  if  its  race  world  is  a  world  wholly  synon- 
ymous with  deprivation,  and  if  the  world  of  the  white  man 
is  the  only  generous  and  honorable  world  of  which  it  knows. 
It  will  hardly  hold  with  tenacity  to  its  racial  standpoint, 
it  will  hardly  give  any  deep  spiritual  or  conscious  allegiance 
to  its  racial  future,  if  its  race  life  is  to  be  forever  burdened 
with  contempt  and  denied  the  larger  possibilities  of  thought 
and  effort.  The  true  hope,  therefore,  of  race  integrity  for 
the  negro  lies  in  establishing  for  him,  within  his  own  racial 
life,  the  possibilities  of  social  differentiation.  A  race  which 
must  ever  be  tempted  to  go  outside  of  itself  for  any  share 
in  the  largeness  and  the  freedom  of  experience  will  never 
be  securely  anchored  in  its  racial  self-respect,  can  never 
achieve  any  legitimate  racial  standpoint,  and  as  its  mem- 
bers rise  they  must  be  perpetually  tempted  to  desert  its  own 
distinctive  life  and  its  own  distinctive  service  to  the  world. 
There  is  no  hope  for  a  race  which  begins  by  despising 
itself.  The  winning  of  generic  confidence,  of  a  legitimate 
racial  pride,  will  come  with  the  larger  creation  of  oppor- 
tunity within  the  race.  The  clew  to  racial  integrity  for  the 
negro  is  thus  to  be  found  not  in  race  suppression,  but  in 
race  sufficiency." 

As  the  members  of  the  race  achieve  that  which  is  a 
real  contribution  to  the  progress  of  the  world  in  which  he 
lives,  the  value  of  his  race  will  correspondingly  rise,  and 
the  just  pride  which  accompanies  moral  victory  and  self- 
mastery  will  increasingly  be  felt.  Without  this  founda- 
tion race  integrity  can  have  no  permanence  nor  perhaps 
even  any  reality.  With  it  there  will  be  no  temptation  to 
the  negro  to  despair  of  his  permanent  place  among  the 
races  of  the  w^orld,  each  of  which  must  surely  have  its  pur- 
pose in  God's  creative  design.     Of  it  will  be  born  the  am- 


288  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

bition  to  learn  that  purpose,  and  to  claim  the  right  to  ful- 
fill it  in  his  own  right  and  in  his  own  racial  name. 

And  as  this  becomes  more  and  more  clearly  realized  by 
the  thoughtful,  educated,  humanity-loving  South,  there  will 
be  less  and  less  opposition  to  the  progress  of  the  negro, 
and  more  and  more  interest  in  the  education  which  is  to  fit 
him  the  more  fully  to  work  out  his  God-given  destiny.  It 
will  mean  that  in  protecting  the  higher  form  of  life  against 
the  deteriorating  influence  of  the  lower,  the  lower  is  not 
thereby  to  be  prevented  from  rising,  but  rather  to  be  en- 
couraged in  his  toilsome  upward  movement.  It  will  be 
clearly  seen  that  the  rise  of  the  lower  is  not  at  the  intoler- 
able cost  of  the  fall  of  the  higher,  but  is  contributing  to 
the  still  greater  upward  progress  of  both. 

The  conditions  of  our  Southern  life,  almost  completely 
rural,  not  only  illustrate  the  truth  of -what  I  have  said,  but 
intensify  its  vital  significance.  The  prosperity  of  the 
South  is  dependent  upon  the  productiveness  of  its  soil, 
which  is  proportioned  to  the  industry  and  intelligence  of 
its  laborers  in  her  fields — to  that  combination  of  acquire- 
ments that  is  called  efficiency.  Surely,  if  the  negro  is  the 
laborer  that  the  South  has,  that  it  most  wants,  and  happily 
is  likely  to  have  for  unnumbered  ages,  then  not  only  the 
door  to  industry  must  be  opened  wide,  but  the  door  to  the 
greatest  efficiency  possible  to  him.  We  should  help  him, 
with  consistent  and  persistent  purpose,  to  increase  the  skill 
of  his  hands  and  the  productive  capacity  of  his  brain  and 
brawn.  It  is  to  me  just  as  inconceivable  that  the  domi- 
nant white  race  should  not  want  that  for  him  as  that  the 
negro  should  not  want  it  for  himself.  It  is  difficult  to  un- 
derstand the  viewpoint  of  the  man  who,  knowing  the  ex- 
pensiveness  of  cheap  labor,  wants  to  make  and  to  keep  the 
labor  that  he  has  cheap  and  inefficient. 

Yet  there  has  come  a  strangely  inconsistent  change  in 
the  opinion  of  many  men  concerning  the  kind  of  education 
that  the  negro  should  have.  Dr.  Murphy  calls  attention 
to  this,  while  he  declaims  against  its  injustice  and  folly: 
*'Many  of  the  same  men  who  assured  us,  ten  years  ago, 


OPEN  DOOR  TO  INDUSTRY  ON  BASIS  OF  EFFICIENCY       239 

that  industrial  education  is  the  only  education  the  negro 
should  have,  are  now  ready  with  the  assurance  that,  for 
fear  the  industrial  development  of  the  negro  will  clash  with 
that  of  the  white  man,  this  form  of  negro  training  is  the 
most  dangerous  contribution  that  has  thus  far  been  made 
to  the  solution  of  our  Southern  problems.  The  poor  negro ! 
The  men  who  would  keep  him  in  ignorance,  and  then  would 
disfranchise  him  because  he  is  ignorant,  must  seem  to  him 
as  a  paragon  of  erect  and  radiant  consistency  when  com- 
pared with  the  man  who  first  tells  him  he  must  work,  and 
then  tells  him  he  must  not  learn  how.  He  tells  the  negro 
he  must  have  shoes,  but  that  he  must  not  make  shoes  which 
people  can  wear;  that  he  may  be  a  wheelwright,  but  that 
he  must  make  neither  good  wheels  nor  salable  wagons; 
that  he  must  be  a  farmer,  but  that  he  must  not  farm  well. 
According  to  this  fatuous  philosophy  of  our  situation,  we 
are  to  find  the  true  ground  of  inter-racial  harmony  when 
we  have  proved  to  the  negro  that  it  is  useless  for  him  to  be 
useful,  and  only  after  we  have  consistently  sought  the  ne- 
gro's industrial  contentment  on  the  basis  of  his  industrial 
despair!" 

The  folly  of  this  fatal  policy  was  vividly  illustrated 
when  that  devouring  little  beast,  the  boll  weevil,  first  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  lower  cotton  counties  of  Mississippi. 
Never  was  there  a  more  painful  exhibition  of  the  dire 
results  of  inefficiency  issuing  in  the  inability  to  cope  with 
conditions  which  necessitated  an  intelligent  revolution  of 
agricultural  methods  which  alone  could  win  the  grewsome 
battle.  And  so  long  as  the  labor  of  the  South  continues  to 
be  untutored  and  inefficient,  the  crises  which,  having  come 
in  the  past,  must  be  expected  in  the  future  will  be  met 
with  varying  degrees  of  failure,  but  always  failure  in  some 
measure. 

To  me  the  fact  that  the  door  to  industry  in  the  South 
has  been  as  open  as  it  is  for  the  negro  is  one  for  sincerest 
gratification.  "It  is  in  the  South,"  says  Dr.  Washington, 
"that  the  black  man  finds  the  open  sesame  in  labor,  indus- 
try, and  business  that  is  not  surpassed  anywhere."     The 


240  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

plea  for  the  negro  is,  thus,  not  so  much  that  the  door  shall 
be  opened,  but  that,  already  having  been  opened,  its  en- 
trance should  be  made  more  and  more  a  reward  of  efficiency. 
The  employer  who  is  willing  to  accept  any  sort  of  work, 
who  demands  no  standard  and  no  progress,  who  is  content 
to  continue  year  after  year  a  policy  of  inefficiency  or  half 
efficiency,  is  as  far  from  being  a  friend  to  the  negro  as  the 
man  who  opposes  the  education  that  would  increase  his 
efficiency.  The  trouble  is  not  that  the  negro  is  deprived 
of  the  right  to  enter  any  trade  or  any  calling  which  his 
needs  and  desires  suggest.  He  is  not  confined  in  the  South 
to  menial  tasks.  Law,  medicine,  the  pulpit,  the  school,  the 
mercantile  lines  are  all  open  to  him.  His  real  problem  is 
the  gaining  of  a  measure  of  efficiency  that  will  reward  his 
industry  with  success. 

Out  of  the  inconsistencies  of  those  who  demand  that 
the  negro  labor  but  must  not  be  taught  how  to  labor,  who 
would  keep  him  a  field  hand  but  deny  him  industrial  instruc- 
tion, who  would  educate  him  but  confine  the  curriculum 
below  the  standard  that  would  provide  him  with  teachers, 
who  would  see  him  taught  but  without  teachers;  who  in 
short  accept  his  inefficiency  and  then  deride  him  for  it,  we 
of  the  white  race  must  somehow  bring  about  a  consistency 
of  desire  for  our  negro  brethren,  and  an  equal  consistency 
of  effort  to  help  him  train  himself  after  that  fashion  which 
will  make  the  best  and  the  most  out  of  the  raw  material 
which  God  has  given  him.  In  spite  of  these  inconsistencies, 
the  South  has,  I  verily  believe,  beyond  any  other  section 
or  nation,  approached  the  "best  gift  of  a  civilization  to 
an  individual — the  opportunity  to  live  industriously  and 
honestly,  to  acquire  and  to  fashion  his  home,  to  realize  the 
legitimate  ambitions  of  an  awakened  manhood,  and  to  en- 
joy the  fruit  of  hope,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  self-respect." 

And  now  I  turn  to  my  friends  of  the  negro  race  and 
ask.  What  is,  and  is  progressively  to  be,  your  response  to 
the  open  door?  The  answer  is  not  a  simple  one,  but  is  a^ 
complex  for  the  negro  as  is  the  problem  of  opening  the 
door  to  the  white  man,  who  first  and  last  must  shoulder 


OPEN  DOOR  TO  INDUSTRY  ON  BASIS  OF  EFFICIENCY       241 

the  responsibility  of,  and  for,  the  opening  of  it.  To  com- 
plicate the  problem,  the  negro,  as  a  race,  has  not  yet  meas- 
ured his  own  capability,  and  the  white  man  is  equally  igno- 
rant of  it.  I  do  not  underrate  the  abilities  of  those  truly 
able  leaders  who  have  been  born  to  the  day  of  need,  nor 
do  I  undervalue  the  sincerity  and  the  self-sacrifice  which 
have  achieved  social  and  industrial  wonders  during  the  past 
half  century.  But  the  leaders  themselves  have  been  very 
widely  separated  from  the  mass  of  those  whom  they  were 
to  lead,  and  this  veritable  isolation  has  but  too  often 
brought  into  clear  relief  our  ignorance  concerning  the 
capacity  of  the  race. 

I  venture  the  assertion  that  until  very  recently  there 
has  been  no  even  partially  successful  effort  by  a  negro 
leader  to  interpret  the  negro  and  to  reveal  him  to  himself. 
And  although  such  a  task  must  be  performed,  if  at  all,  by 
a  negro,  the  conditions  of  his  development  in  a  democracy 
of  which  he  has  been  but  a  fraction  have  forced  into  the 
foreground  all  manner  of  relative  issues  which  have  ob- 
scured the  primary,  vital  issue  of  the  revelation  of  his  own 
capacities  through  the  development  of  his  own  life.  His 
leaders,  forced  to  the  study  of  the  political  or  social  issues, 
in  a  word,  of  the  race  as  related  to  another  and  a  domi- 
nant race,  have  been  lured  away  from  the  study  of  their 
race  as  such.  They  have  been  occupied,  until  this  present 
generation,  with  the  question  of  his  abnormal  situation — 
a  question  well-nigh  wholly  unprofitable,  until  the  prior 
riddle  is  solved — viz..  What  ajn  I,  what  can  I  do? 

So  to  the  leaders  of  the  negro  people  is  committed  by 
the  "Providence  which  shapes  our  ends"  the  splendid  task 
of  leading  his  race  through  the  open  door  of  opportunity. 
I  know  that  they  are  far  from  wishing  to  discount  the  coun- 
sel and  sympathy  and  help  of  the  white  race.  But  more 
and  more,  in  the  coming  years,  will  the  task  become  the 
negro's  own  task,  as  the  number  of  leaders  becomes  en- 
larged and  also  mere  skilled  in  the  powers  of  self-mastery, 
moderation,  love,  and  the  power  for  good. 
16 


242  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

In  this  the  negro  will  be  no  exception.  It  is  not  him- 
self alone  who  has  swelled  the  population  of  America. 
In  our  midst  is  spoken  every  language  of  peoples  who  have 
entered  the  door  of  opportunity.  No  continent  is  the  pos- 
session, any  longer,  of  a  single  race — not  even  Africa  is 
any  longer  the  negro's  alone.  Rightly  or  wrongly,  for  good 
or  for  ill,  the  world  is  henceforth  cosmopolitan,  the  world 
is  the  home  of  the  races  together.  And  why  should  it  not 
be?  God  made  it  for  man.  And  surely  the  issue  cannot 
be  in  doubt  if  man  will  but  set  himself  the  task  of  subduing 
the  world  for  God,  of  making  it  a  veritable  home  for  the 
families  of  God's  children,  while  remembering  that  the 
world  is  God's,  and  man  his  steward. 
\ 


VI.     THE  CHILD,  THE  WOMAN,  AND  THE 
FUTURE  NATION 


The  Cry  of  the  Children 
The  Modern  Orphanage  in  the  South 
The  School  as  a  Focus  of  Disease 
Responsibility  for  Health  in  Public  Schools 
Teaching  Health  in  the  Public  Schools 
The  Child  and  Heredity 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN 

BY  ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING 

(The  influence  of  poetry  is  greater  than  is  genei'ally  real- 
ized, and  many  find  inspiration  to  action  in  reading  it.  Mrs. 
Browning  in  this  pathetic  poem  did  much  to  rouse  England 
to  the  evil  of  child  labor  and  to  perceive  the  wrongs  done  the 
little  ones  toiling  in  its  factories  and  coal  mines  far  beyond 
their  strength.) 

Do  ye  hear  the  children  weeping,  0  my  brothers, 

Ere  the  sorrow  comes  with  years? 
They  are  leaning  their  young  heads  against  their 
mothers, 

And  that  cannot  stop  their  tears. 

The  young  lambs  are  bleating  in  the  meadows; 

The  young  birds  are  chirping  in  the  nest; 
The  young  fawns  are  playing  with  the  shadows; 

The  young  flowers  are  blowing  toward  the  west ; 

But  the  young,  young  children,  O  my  brothers, 

They  are  weeping  bitterly ! 
They  are  weeping  in  the  playtime  of  the  others. 

In  the  country  of  the  free. 

Still,  all  day,  the  iron  wheels  go  onward, 

Grinding  life  down  from  its  mark ; 
And  the  children's  souls,  which  God  is  calling  sun- 
ward, 

Spin  on  blindly  in  the  dark. 


THE  MODERN  ORPHANAGE  IN  THE  SOUTH 

M.  L.   KESLER,  D.D.,  THOMASVILLE,  N.  C. 

This  is  the  century  of  the  child.  So  radical  has  been 
the  shift  of  emphasis  that  the  proper  study  of  mankind  has 
become  the  study  of  the  child. 

The  "better  babies"  slogan  does  not  expend  itself  on 
prenatal  influences,  but  with  equal  zeal  we  are  concerned 
about  the  first  steps  of  little  feet.  Early  training  is  divid- 
ing honors  with  theories  of  heredity,  and  the  first  three 
years  of  a  child's  life  to-day  are  of  more  importance  than 
his  course  at  the  university.  It  is  particularly  true  of  the 
little  child  that  "he  is  a  part  of  all  that  he  has  met."  We 
accept  the  advice  of  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  to  the  young 
mother,  that  her  child's  education  should  begin  one  hun- 
dred years  before  he  is  born.  But  our  case  is  very  much 
like  that  of  the  young  mother;  the  children  we  know  are 
already  born,  and  the  very  best  thing  we  can  do  for  them 
is  to  begin  their  training  a  hundred  years  before  somebody 
else  is  born. 

My  special  reference  is  to  the  dependent  child.  "Some 
of  them  ought  never  to  have  been  born,"  you  say?  Per- 
haps so.  But  upon  our  disposition  of  these  depends  the 
advancement  of  the  human  race;  they  are  at  once  the 
menace  and  the  hope  of  our  civilization.  The  care  that  the 
"unfit"  child  shall  live  is  the  assurance  that  the  "proper 
child"  will  enter  the  race  with  the  least  possible  hindrance. 
The  careful  study  of  defectives  has  greatly  enriched  the 
teaching  of  the  normal  child.  So  the  child  placed  in  the 
midst  by  misfortune's  fling  may  furnish  a  new  interpreta- 
tion of  the  "all  things  working  together  for  good." 

To-day  all  forward-looking  forces  are  concerned  about 
the  child  without  a  chance.  It  was  not  always  so.  The 
orphan  was  not  accorded  the  rights  and  opportunities  of 
the  ordinary  child.  They  were  as  an  alien  race,  fit  only  to 
be  "bound  out"  as  servants  for  common  people.  The  old 
feeling  has  not  altogether  passed,  but  it  is  going,  along 
with  a  brood  of  cruelties  that  can  no  longer  face  the  light. 
There  are  agencies  in  the  field  set  to  the  task  of  helping 


246  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  neglected  child.  They  must  be  willing  to  stand  the  acid 
test  for  soundness  and  efficiency. 

Any  agency  that  encourages  the  breaking  up  of  the 
home,  that  can  and  ought  to  be  held  together,  should  be 
discouraged.  The  widowed  mother  in  good  health,  men- 
tally and  morally 'fit,  should  not  be  relieved  of  the  duty  or 
deprived  of  the  privilege  of  training  her  own  children.  Re- 
lieving the  widow  by  pension,  or  otherwise,  is  the  most 
economical  as  well  as  humane  method.  It  is  beset  with 
difficulties,  to  be  sure,  chief  of  which  is  perpetuating  pov- 
erty and  encouraging  dependency.  But  the  whole  difficulty 
must  be  faced,  and  the  earlier  the  better. 

The  orphanages  and  the  children's  home  societies  are 
the  accredited  agencies  for  the  care  of  the  dependent  child. 
There  is  a  large  mission  and  also  plenty  of  room  for  both 
of  these  agencies  in  the  South,  and  without  friction.  Each 
may  help  and  supplement  the  other.  But  unfortunately 
certain  "placing-out"  advocates  have  spread  their  benevo- 
lent wings  over  the  entire  field,  suggesting  that  the  orphan- 
age get  out  of  their  way.  With  one  mighty  wave  of  the 
hand  the  Theodore  Roosevelt  White  House  Conference,  of 
a  few  years  ago,  settled  this  question  for  the  whole  coun- 
try. But  the  orphanage  workers  of  the  Soutlj  are  not 
ready  to  retire  from  the  field  at  the  behest  of  bureaucratic 
and  syndicated  advice. 

If  certain  writers  in  some  of  our  magazines  had  dis- 
played a  spirit  of  open-minded  fairness  equal  to  their  cock- 
sureness,  real  progress  would  have  been  made  toward  a 
proper  and  helpful  adjustment  of  these  agencies  to  their 
respective  tasks.  Such  screeds  as  referred  to  above  are 
entirely  gratuitous,  for  the  orphanage  is  here  to  stay. 
There  are  several  reasons  why  this  is  true.  In  the  first 
place,  almost  every  great  denomination  in  every  State  has 
its  orphanage.  This  is  not  only  a  help  to  their  dependent 
children,  but  is  a  great  asset  as  a  form  of  social  service 
upon  which  they  can  all  agree  and  is  an  unselfish  bond  of 
union.  Millions  of  dollars  are  already  invested  in  plants 
and  equipment,  and  bequests  in  increasing  numbers  are 
materializing  annually.    The  various  orders  are  establish- 


THE  MODERN  ORPHANAGE  IN  THE  SOUTH  247 

ing"  similar  institutions  and  are  putting  much  money  into 
them.  They  are  not  favorably  inclined  to  a  dispersion  of 
their  children  over  the  regions  round  about.  Now,  in  other 
sections  of  the  country,  the  placing-out  system  is  perhaps 
the  one  I  would  advocate ;  but  here  in  the  South  we  are  not 
far  enough  removed  from  slavery  days  to  yield  the  entire 
field.  "My  lady,"  newly  rich  or  of  broken-down  aristoc- 
racy, makes  "my  servant"  and  "my  girl"  too  large  a  part 
of  her  conversation.  Her  speech  betrayeth  her.  This  type 
of  snobbery  still  exists  and  stands  as  a  barrier  against  turn- 
ing our  orphanages  into  bureaus  for  supplying  v/asher- 
women  and  cooks. 

We  also  have  the  widow,  who  could,  with  the  help  of 
the  orphanage  for  a  time,  by  and  by  reunite  her  little 
family.  Perhaps  she  is  broken  in  health  and  in  fortune; 
after  a  few  years'  treatment  and  rest  she  recovers  herself, 
and  the  little  circle  is  restored  on  a  firm  basis.  This  is  in 
itself  an  important  and  a  large  part  of  our  orphanage  work. 

In  the  South  we  have  a  large  population  of  the  worthy 
poor,  whose  widows,  even  if  they  are  never  able  on  account 
of  physical  inability  to  restore  the  home,  find  the  well-regu- 
lated orphanage  the  best  place  for  their  children.  These 
mothers  are  physically  unable  to  care  for  their  children, 
even  with  a  widow's  pension.  They  have  the  refined  type 
of  mother-love  and  recoil  at  the  thought  of  having  their 
children  separated  and  scattered  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
country.  A  civilization  that  has  no  regard  for  this  feel- 
ing may  chatter  and  prate  about  "home  life"  and  "mother 
love,"  and  know  very  little  of  the  heart  values  expressed  in 
words  that  sound  the  deeps  of  humble  human  life. 

Broad-minded  orphanage  workers  see  a  great  task  be- 
fore the  children's  home  societies  and  are  ready  to  cooper- 
ate; but  we  prefer  no  odious  comparisons,  and  that  they 
make  no  faces  at  us.  Any  contention  between  the  agencies 
in  the  midst  of  such  distressing  need  is  as  unseemly  as  a 
quarrel  between  life-saving  crews  over  their  respective 
styles  of  boat.  Let  the  saving  work  go  on  with  friendly 
interest,  and  each  craft  will  through  its  work  become  ad- 
justed to  its  task. 


248  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

We  have  the  modern  church,  the  modern  school,  and  the 
modern  orphanage  as  well.  There  is  an  organization 
knovv'n  as  the  Tri-State  Orphanage  Conference,  composed 
of  workers  from  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Geor- 
gia. It  has  held  annual  meetings  for  the  past  eleven  years. 
This  is  one  of  many  expressions  of  progress. 

The  unworthy  and  inefficient  orphanage  can  no  longer 
stand  by  the  wayside  of  modern  life  asking  alms. 

In  the  first  place,  the  orphanage  must  be  worthily 
planned  and  equipped.  The  cottage  system  is  the  only  one 
that  has  been  seriously  considered  in  the  South  for  years. 
Forty  years  ago  J.  H.  Mills,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Dr. 
W.  P.  Jacobs,  of  South  Carolina,  introduced  and  made 
popular  this  system.  The  cottages  should  be  arranged  on 
a  plan  of  magnificent  distances,  with  room  for  beauty, 
flower  gardens,  and  playgrounds.  Young  human  life  is  at 
its  best  in  the  midst  of  the  growing,  thrifty  life  of  a  farm. 
The  location  ought  to  be  near  a  good  town;  it  must  be  on 
a  good  farm.  A  good  physical  equipment,  like  good  clothes, 
has  a  tonic  effect,  both  for  efficiency  and  for  better  morals. 

The  orphanage  is  at  once  in  line  with  the  modern  effort 
for  sound  bodies  for  young  Americans.  It  stands  at  the 
end  of  the  human  moraine,  bringing  down  the  drift  of  the 
physically  inefficient,  and  has  the  interesting  task  of  bring- 
ing the  young  straggler  back  to  his  lost  heritage.  Clean 
him  up  inside  and  out — this  is  the  first  aid  that  should  be 
administered  to  the  injured  young  life.  The  relation  of 
good  health  to  mind  and  morals  is  so  apparent  to  the  intel- 
ligent worker  that  the  orphanage  becomes  a  sort  of  physi- 
cal and  psychological  laboratory  in  the  study  of  the  child. 
Before  successful  work  can  be  done  in  the  schoolroom  every 
child  must  be  relieved  of  adenoid,  eye,  and  tooth  troubles. 
Sunshine,  fresh  air,  general  sanitation,  and  hygienic  living 
should  be  such  a  part  of  daily  life  that  a  special  coarse  for 
these  things  in  the  schoolroom  would  be  unnecessary. 
Hookworm  and  pellagra  should  be  well-nigh  impossible 
diseases  in  a  well-regulated  orphanage;  and  if  the  institu- 
tion cannot  get  the  consent  of  its  mind  to  go  to  the  pains 


THE  MODERN  ORPHANAGE  IN  THE  SOUTH  249 

and  expense  of  maintaining  a  balanced  ration,  it  should  at 
an  early  day  give  its  consent  to  disband. 

Along  with  health  culture  training,  all-round  training 
should  be  the  slogan  of  this  modern  orphanage.  It  offers, 
perhaps,  the  best  all-round  educational  opportunity  we 
have.  We  have  the  children  in  the  home  all  day  and  all 
the  year,  in  school  and  out  of  school,  at  work  and  at  play. 
Every  employee  should,  in  his  place,  be  a  teacher,  and  every 
department  of  work  outside  the  schoolroom  should  have 
its  cultural  value.  Here  can  be  worked  out,  without  hin- 
drance, a  correlated  system  of  education.  Much  of  the 
manual  training,  in  different  departments  of  work,  can  be 
used  in  the  schoolroom  as  a  supplement  to  textbook  work. 
Daily  activities  furnish  material  for  practical  mathematics 
and  work  in  English  composition.  It  gives  an  easy  and 
natural  mastery  of  language.  In  a  large  way  the  educa- 
tion is  related  to  the  activities  of  daily  life  and  thereby 
greatly  enriches  both  the  education  and  the  daily  life.  The 
farm  school  idea  can  be  worked  out  better  than  by  the 
school  set  apart  for  that  purpose.  It  is  a  question  whether 
vocational  training,  in  the  narrow  sense,  should  be  given 
in  complete  courses,  or  whether  such  training  should  not  be 
given  in  such  variety  and  to  such  extent  that  the  child  may 
find  himself,  and  later  on  complete  specific  training. 

The  aesthetic  in  education  holds  a  large  place  also  in  the 
program.  Overlook  this,  and  the  whole  education  is  im- 
poverished ;  for  with  one  hand  the  aesthetic  reaches  out  into 
the  intellectual,  and  with  the  other  up  into  the  moral  and 
spiritual.  The  life  into  which  the  natural  world  of  sod  and 
flower  and  sky  does  not  pour  a  song  and  a  message  is  uncul- 
tured and  bereft.  The  flower  garden,  birds,  grass,  and 
fields,  made  glorious  by  inspiring  teachers,  present  God's 
great  equipment  in  his  out-of-doors  uni\^ersity.  In  any 
worthy  institution  the  children  are  allowed  ownership  and 
participation  in  this  life  of  beauty. 

The  modern  orphanage  easily  finds  a  place  for  the 
inspirational  features  of  an  education.  Chief  of  these  is 
music.  The  institution  that  resolves  itself  into  a  chorus  of 
trained  children's  voices   cannot  be  common   or  unclean. 


250  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Literary  and  missionary  societies  and  other  simple  organi- 
zations can  be  made  most  useful  in  this  democracy  of 
childhood. 

Of  all  institutions,  it  must  be  permeated  by  Christian 
ideals  placed  within  reach  of  the  child.  This  is  one  great 
plea  for  the  denominational  orphanage.  In  a  throng  of 
youth,  life  is  intense  and  at  the  forming  stage.  This  life 
must  be  gripped  by  a  mighty  tide  and  swept  out  from  the 
dangerous  reefs.  Helpful  and  directive  discipline  and  high 
culture  alike  are  dependent  upon  a  deep  and  genuine  reli- 
gious life. 

This  efficient  institution  which  I  have  described  in  out- 
line is  in  the  main  dependent  upon  its  administration.  Em- 
erson said  that  every  great  institution  was  but  the  length- 
ened shadow  of  one  man — and  of  his  successors,  let  it  be 
added. 

The  notion  that  an  orphanage  is  a  sort  of  lazaretto,  a 
form  of  organized  poverty,  has  not  entirely  passed;  and 
along  with  it  the  idea  that  any  good-natured,  worn-out  old 
favorite  will  do  for  the  superintendent,  and  that  economy 
demands  teachers  that  cost  least  money.  This  has  been  the 
weakness,  amounting  almost  to  a  crime  in  our  work  of  this 
kind.  The  esprit  de  corps  and  tone  of  the  institution  de- 
pend upon  the  personality  of  the  workers  in  it;  here  char- 
acter is  imparted  rather  than  taught.  This  young  life  is 
easily  impressed,  and  for  that  reason  needs  the  strongest 
hand.  At  one  time  it  goes  into  the  air  and  then  all  at  once 
the  bottom  drops  out;  it  is  the  exuberant  life,  and  is  safe 
only  in  the  hands  of  its  master.  The  institution  will  be 
visited  by  prominent  men.  If  the  superintendent  suffers 
in  comparison,  in  the  eyes  of  the  children,  either  in  culture 
or  strength  of  character,  he  has,  in  a  measure,  lost  his 
leadership,  and  they  suffer  a  shattered  idol.  Only  the 
strongest  men,  measured  from  every  side,  should  be 
selected.  This  may  demand  a  thinning  out  among  us;  but 
the  call  has  gone  forth,  the  order  has  been  issued,  that  the 
neediest  child  needs  the  best,  in  order  to  save  him  from 
the  worst. 


THE  SCHOOL  AS  A  FOCUS  OF  DISEASE  251 

Yes,  there  is  a  modern  orphanage.  It  may  not  have  a 
place  in  the  sun,  but  it  has  a  place  in  the  earth.  It  no 
longer  apologizes  and  "with  a  poor  mouth"  whines  itself 
into  favor,  but  offers  itself  for  a  share  of  service  to  the 
stricken  poor,  resting  in  confidence  that  "Wisdom  is  justi- 
fied in  her  children." 


THE  SCHOOL  AS  A  FOCUS  OF  DISEASE 

E.  GODBOLD,  STATE  SECRETARY  OF  LOUISIANA  BAPTIST  EDUCA- 
TION COMMISSION,  ALEXANDRIA,  LA. 

One  of  the  healthiest  signs  of  the  healthy  advancement 
of  our  Southern  region  is  the  concern  among  our  thinking 
people  for  the  health  of  our  population.  This  concern  has 
come,  perhaps,  from  two  sources.  Every  person  who  has 
any  sort  of  humanitarian  feeling  desires  the  best  welfare 
of  all  his  fellows.  He  sympathizes  with  the  suffering;  he 
grieves  with  the  sorrowing;  he  desires  the  relief  of  the 
needy.  This  passion  for  service  is  a  very  helpful  element 
in  our  complicated  human  natures.  The  fact  that  the  mod- 
ern American  is  moved  to  action  and  often  to  sacrifice  by 
the  needs  and  suffering  of  those  who  are  less  fortunate 
proves  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  an  advancing  civilization. 

The  second  sign  of  this  healthy  growth  is  the  almost 
universal  cry  for  efficiency  and  conservation.  Those  on 
whom  we  depend  for  leadership,  in  all  lines  of  endeavor, 
are  becoming  more  and  more  concerned  because  of  the 
waste  and  loss  of  time,  of  energy,  and  of  money.  Undoubt- 
edly this  concern  has  been  caused  by  the  sharp  competition 
we  find  in  every  trade  and  calling,  which  has  come  as  a 
result  of  the  increasing  density  of  our  population  and  the 
inevitable  struggle  for  livelihood.  It  has  perhaps  been 
forced  upon  us,  but  we  must  admit  that  it  is  a  command- 
ing one.  The  interest  manifested  in  this  Sociological  Con- 
gress, and  the  conferences  held  in  connection  with  it,  is  per- 
haps largely  due  to  this  motive  of  feeling  and  this  desire 
for  efficiency. 


252  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

The  most  casual  observation  will  convince  any  one  that 
the  school  is  really  a  focus  of  disease,  that  contagion 
spreads  more  rapidly  on  account  of  this  ag-gregated  com- 
munity. When  any  sort  of  contagious  disease  is  in  an 
assembly  of  people,  the  result  will  always  be  a  more  rapid 
spread  of  this  contagion.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that,  be- 
cause of  the  many  diseases  to  which  children  are  subject, 
the  school  is  the  most  felt  focus  of  disease  we  have  in  our 
community  life.  There  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  in  the 
last  few  days,  an  example  of  this  in  a  small  rural  school, 
the  instruction  of  which  is  confined  to  the  grammar  grades, 
whose  teaching  force  consists  of  a  principal  and  one  assist- 
ant, and  whose  entire  enrollment  during  this  session  has 
been  sixty-seven  pupils.  This  school  is  located  in  the  pine 
woods  of  Rapides  Parish,  La.,  on  the  north  side  of  Red 
River.  On  inquiry  I  found  that  of  the  sixty-seven  pupils  in 
the  school  eighteen  have  had  "chills  and  fever"  during  the 
past  seven  months  of  this  session.  The  average  loss  of 
time  by  each  of  these  eighteen  was  five  days;  the  average 
number  of  recitations  per  day  Vv^as  four;  the  average  cost 
per  pupil  for  the  session  was  $11.  One  can  very  easily 
determine  the  monetary  loss  to  the  county  on  account  of 
these  cases  of  malaria.  Prior  to  the  opening  of  the  ses- 
sion last  October,  only  one  family  in  the  community,  so  far 
as  could  be  learned,  had  had  a  case  of  "chills  and  fever" 
in  it.  During  the  session  this  disease  spread  to  eight  dif- 
ferent families. 

I  have  before  me  from  the  principal  of  a  city  high 
school  a  letter  which  says  that  during  the  last  session  this 
school,  in  the  high  school  department,  enrolled  229  pupils. 
The  actual  number  of  days  present  was  32,025.  If  every 
pupil  had  been  present  every  day,  this  number  would  have 
been  40,075.  The  school  administration  endeavored  to 
learn  the  cause  of  this  loss  in  attendance,  and  found  that 
approximately  4,150  days'  loss  of  time  was  due  to  sickness. 
The  average  cost  per  pupil  in  this  school  was  $43  per  ses- 
sion. This  would  make  a  total  loss,  according  to  the  lowest 
calculation,  of  more  than  $1,000.  This  school  principal 
reports  that  the  main  diseases  to  which  this  loss  of  time, 


THE  SCHOOL  AS  A  FOCUS  OF  DISEASE  253 

was  due  were  measles,  mumps,  scarlet  fever,  whooping 
cough,  diphtheria,  sore  eyes  of  a  certain  kind,  malaria, 
influenza,  and  colds.  It  is  a  patent  fact  that  with  proper 
medical  supervision  the  spread  of  every  one  of  these  dis- 
eases is  preventable. 

I  have  before  me  the  reports  of  several  college  phy- 
sicians, and  find  that,  almost  without  exception,  the  biggest 
problem  each  one  had  to  deal  with  resulted  from  some  form 
of  contagion.  One  college  in  Mississippi  reports  that  in  a 
student  body  of  approximately  500  during  the  last  two 
years  there  have  been  67  cases  of  measles,  182  of  influenza, 
74  of  tonsilitis,  37  of  malaria,  and  an  unknown  number  of 
cases  of  ordinary  colds.  The  estimated  loss  of  this  school, 
because  of  these  diseases,  was  nearly  $5,000.  In  this  school 
it  was  found  that  the  measles,  in  both  cases  of  outbreak, 
was  imported.  The  beginning  of  the  malaria  infection  was 
traced  to  an  importation.  Another  college  with  approxi- 
mately 400  students  reports  that,  because  of  an  imported 
case  of  measles,  there  resulted  in  the  student  body  100 
cases.  The  average  number  of  days  out  of  school,  for  each 
student  who  was  stricken,  was  15,  giving  a  total  of  1,500 
days'  loss  of  time,  and  a  loss  of  not  less  than  6,000  recita- 
tions due  to  this  epidemic.  Ten  students  were  forced  to 
leave  school  on  account  of  impaired  eyes.  The  physician 
estimated  that  three  per  cent  of  those  aff'ected  have  a  per- 
manent weakness  of  the  eyes.  This  does  not  take  into  con- 
sideration the  lowering  of  scholarship  records  and  the  loss 
in  a  financial  way  to  the  college  itself. 

The  latest  statistics  available  show  that  during  1914 
there  were  62,000  deaths  among  school  children.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  sixty-eight  per  cent  of  these  were  entirely  pre- 
ventable. This  does  not  consider  the  losses  to  the  school 
communities  due  to  sickness  and  deformities  and  discour- 
agement and  loss  of  time  from  school,  all  of  which  placed 
extraordinarily  heavy  burdens  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
young  long  before  they  were  able  to  bear  them;  neither 
does  this  consider  the  economic  loss  to  the  parents  and  to 
the  State,  and  the  untold  sorrows  that  death  always  brings. 


254  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Can  we  destroy  these  foci  of  disease?  We  must  have 
the  schools,  and  if  this  disease  feature  is  a  necessary  accom- 
paniment, we  must  have  the  schools  notwithstanding.  In 
the  face  of  our  present  day  knowledge,  we  are  not  ready  to 
admit  that  this  feature  is  a  necessary  evil.  With  proper 
supervision  and  inspection,  the  greater  part  of  this  loss  of 
time  and  money  and  mental  and  physical  strength  can  be 
avoided.    The  eternal  question  before  us  is,  "How?" 

The  first  means  that  ought  to  be  mentioned  is  the  use 
of  common  sense  in  running  the  school  community.  We 
cannot  stress  too  strongly  the  need  of  proper  ventilation. 
In  too  many  cases  our  teachers  are  woefully  ignorant  con- 
cerning this  subject,  and  more  often  their  ignorance  is  not 
nearly  so  great  as  their  indifference.  Our  school  authori- 
ties are  entirely  too  negligent  concerning  ordinary  sanita- 
tion measures.  In  one  village  high  school  which  I  visited 
a  few  weeks  since  I  found  old-fashioned  roller  towels  in 
use;  and  the  community  in  which  this  condition  of  aflFairs 
existed  is  not  what  might  be  termed  one  of  our  most  back- 
ward rural  communities.  Our  county  school  boards  ought 
to  take  steps  that  would  remedy  such  conditions.  Our  peo- 
ple are  too  intelligent  now  to  charge  that  such  action  on  the 
part  of  any  school  board  would  savor  too  much  of  the  pater- 
nal. I  have  found  that  often  the  rural  schools  of  the  State 
are  not  provided  with  any  sort  of  toilets,  and  that  the  great 
majority  of  them  have  entirely  neglected  sanitation  in  the 
construction  of  the  toilets  they  have. 

Another  means  of  carrying  out  some  measures  looking 
to  the  elimination  of  the  disease  focus  feature  of  our 
schools  is  a  rigid  medical  inspection.  So  far  as  my  infor- 
mation goes,  this  has  never  been  tried  in  a  ruraf  school  in 
Louisiana.  Some  of  our  States  have  provided  for  compul- 
sory medical  inspection;  but,  for  the  most  part,  the  people 
of  our  Southern  States  have  not  yet  realized  the  necessity 
of  this  step.  The  success  of  such  inspections  in  our  col- 
leges has  proved  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  their  effec- 
tiveness. I  quote  the  following  from  the  report  of  a  col- 
lege physician  for  the  session  of  1914-15 : 


THE  SCHOOL  AS  A  FOCUS  OF  DISEASE  255 

"Doubtless  never  before  in  the  history  of College 

has  there  been  such  a  fortunate  year  in  matters  of  health. 
Not  a  single  contagious  disease  has  made  its  development 
during  the  session.  Not  a  single  death  of  the  student  en- 
rollment (approximately  400)  has  occurred  either  here  or 
at  home.  There  has  not  even  been  a  student  sufficiently 
sick  to  require  that  he  be  taken  to  our  local  hospital  for 
treatment.  The  college  has  not  been  asked  for  a  cent  for 
hospital  care  and  nursing.  From  this  minimum  of  illness, 
we  have  realized  a  great  saving  to  the  students  in  the  ex- 
penses always  connected  with  sickness,  and  also  a  saving 
in  scholarship  that  results  from  absence  from  school 
duties. 

"As  something  of  an  index  to  the  nature  of  the  work 
undertaken,  I  will  state  that  during  the  first  week  of  the 
session  a  call  was  made  for  the  students  to  report  for  phys- 
ical examination.  An  office  and  clinic  were  provided  for 
in  the  biological  laboratory.  My  records  show  that  300 
students  responded  voluntarily  to  this  call.  Of  these,  it 
was  discovered  that  63  had  either  acute  or  chronic  malaria ; 
36  had  some  form  of  either  liver  or  kidney  disease ;  180  had 
throat  ailments  requiring  some  attention;  70  had  blood 
strength  ranging  from  10  per  cent  to  30  per  cent  below  nor- 
mal; 44  had  hookworm  disease,  every  one  of  which  was 
given  treatment ;  23  had  venereal  diseases  of  various  kinds ; 
130  had  cases  of  physical  weakness  caused  by  tobacco 
habit;  30  had  heart  disease  and  unclassified  conditions. 
The  treatment  of  these  diseases  covers  a  vast  amount  of 
personal  attention  and  prescriptions  that  aggregated  prac- 
tically the  same  as  previous  years,  with,  however,  the  sav- 
ing of  practically  all  bedside  attention.  Along  with  the 
more  or  less  permanent  removal  of  the  diseases  named 
above,  38  students  have  taken  the  tobacco-habit  treatment 
and,  so  far  as  I  know,  have  permanently  abandoned  its  use. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  students  have  been  very  appre- 
ciative and  responsive  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  response  to  my  call  was  entirely  voluntary,  I  found  it 
possible  to  know  finally  the  health  condith)n  to  the  remot- 
est feature  of  almost  every  student  in  school.     It  appears 


256  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

justifiable,  in  lieu  of  the  above  facts,  to  state  that  conserva- 
tion in  liealth  is  just  as  possible  as  in  timber,  or  land,  or 
domestic  animals,  and  there  is  really  a  place  for  such  work 
in  our  educational  system." 

This  report  proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  a  compulsory 
medical  inspection  will  pay.  If  it  worked  so  well  volun- 
tarily in  a  college,  it  can  surely  be  used  to  a  good  degree  of 
success  in  every  one  of  our  schools,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest. 

In  my  conversation  with  schoolmen  concerning  this  fea- 
ture of  their  work,  I  have  found  that  there  is  some  com- 
plaint among  them  lodged  against  our  boards  of  health.  It 
is  impossible  to  keep  colds  and  influenza  out  of  schools 
unless  we  can  keep  the  affected  pupils  out.  This  is  a  hard 
problem  because  most  of  our  people  are  not  disposed  to 
take  the  other  fellow's  health  into  consideration  unless  com- 
pelled to  do  so.  Ought  not  health  boards  take  charge  of 
this  matter  and  see  that  some  steps  are  taken  toward 
remedying  this  condition?  In  many  of  our  rural  and  vil- 
lage communities  the  contagion  among  school  children  can 
be  traced  to  the  failure  of  the  board  of  health  to  locate  and 
isolate  the  first  infection.  Of  course,  the  board  of  health  is 
powerless  unless  physicians  report  these  diseases.  Under 
our  present  regime  the  physician  is  woefully  handicapped 
in  a  matter  like  this.  Instead  of  using  him  in  an  effort  to 
prevent  disease,  he  is  considered  only  as  a  necessity  to  cure 
disease.  Therefore,  the  only  safe  means  of  eliminating  the 
disease  focus  feature  in  our  schools  is  the  employment  of 
a  regular  school  physician  and  providing  for  a  rigid  medi- 
cal inspection  of  all  pupils.  In  most  of  our  communities 
we  have  not  yet  reached  this  state  of  development.  The 
strongest  agency  in  educating  our  people  up  to  the  place 
where  they  can  realize  the  necessity  of  this  is  our  health 
boards.  These,  with  the  physicians  cooperating,  can  soon 
create  enough  sentiment  among  our  thinking  people  to  en- 
force measures  that  will  provide  for  such  medical  inspec- 
tion and  prevention. 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  HEALTH  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS       257 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  HEALTH  IN  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

MRS.  HELENA  HOLLEY,  HOUSTON  CITY  SCHOOLS,  HOUS- 
TON, TEX. 

Spencer  says :  "To  be  a  nation  of  good  animals  is  the 
first  condition  to  national  prosperity."  In  the  United 
States  §500,000,000  is  expended  annually  for  schools. 
Should  not  the  children  themselves  be  of  equal  importance 
with  the  subjects  taught  them?  Changing  conditions  are 
increasing  daily  the  responsibility  of  the  school  for  the 
children  intrusted  to  its  care.  A  century  ago  3  1-3  per  cent 
of  the  population  of  the  United  States  was  urban.  To-day, 
according  to  the  census  of  1910,  46  1-3  per  cent  is  urban, 
and  our  large  cities  have  from  75  to  85  per  cent  of  foreign- 
born  population.  The  public  schools,  with  their  cosmic 
mass  of  priceless  human  material,  are  our  greatest  foci 
of  infection,  both  physical  and  moral.  Compulsory  school 
attendance  is  an  untold  danger,  unless  it  insures  against 
physical  and  moral  detriment. 

The  State  provides  for  the  education  of  all  citizens  as 
a  measure  of  self-protection.  It  is  even  more  mandatory 
that  it  should  provide  for  the  physical  welfare  of  its  chil- 
dren, for  the  same  reason.  Proper  sanitation,  as  to  en- 
vironment, grounds,  school  building,  and  equipment,  is  in- 
dispensable. 

The  most  potent  factor  for  health  in  the  schools,  how- 
ever, is  medical  inspection  by  experts,  and  treatment  when 
necessary.  This  is  the  day  of  specialization  and  coopera- 
tion. A  teacher,  however  excellent,  is  not  a  trained  expert 
in  detecting  disease,  although  he  or  she  can  intelligently 
cooperate  with  physician,  nurse,  and  parent. 

A  few  years  ago  fifty  of  our  largest  cities  in  the  United 
States  averaged  30  cents  per  capita  for  prevention  of  dis- 
ease and  $1.63  per  capita  for  prevention  of  fire!  In  Minne- 
sota alone  40,000  children  each  year  suffered  retardation 
because  of  adenoids  and  enlarged  tonsils.  In  1908  only  five 
cities  in  Texas  and  one  in  Louisiana  (New  Orleans)  had 
17 


258  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

medical  inspection  in  their  schools.  Now  we  are  awaken- 
ing all  over  the  South  to  this  great  need. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  nation-wide  evolution. 
First,  the  investigation  of  communicable  disease  alone,  at 
an  estimated  cost  of  15  cents  per  capita;  then,  inspection 
for  every  physical  trouble,  with  prevention  rather  than 
remedy  ever  the  aim,  at  an  average  cost  of  50  cents  per 
capita.  Now  comes  Dr.  Richard  Cabot,  in  a  recent  Ameri- 
can, sounding  an  urgent  plea  for  a  reorganization  of  the 
entire  medical  profession,  when  the  doctor  will  not  be  paid 
to  get  one  well,  but  to  keep  one  so ;  when  the  State  will  pro- 
vide free  expert  medical  inspection  of  every  kind  for  all  its 
boys  and  girls,  along  with  free  and  compulsory  education, 
and  will  provide  free  medical  treatment  for  those  who 
need  it. 

The  University  of  California  may  serve  as  an  ilistance 
of  what  has  already  been  done.  Seven  thousand  students 
pay  $5  a  year  each  toward  a  fund  for  the  care  of  their 
health.  This  entitles  them  to  free  medical  advice  and 
inspection,  and  treatment  in  a  most  up-to-date  hospital  any 
and  every  day  in  the  year  if  they  need  it.  Some  may  gasp 
at  the  expense  that  this,  given  free  to  all  its  children,  might 
entail  for  the  State.  It  is  cheaper,  however,  to  spend  pence 
on  children  than  pounds  on  paupers,  defectives,  and  crimi- 
nals. Ad(i  together,  however,  the  wasted  cost  and  loss  of 
mental  output  from  retardation  and  elimination  in  our 
schools,  where  the  work  has  either  to  be  repeated  the  next 
year  at  the  same  expense  or  be  lost  entirely  by  child  and 
State,  and  the  cost  of  useless  material  carried  in  the  cur- 
riculum of  practically  every  public  school  in  our  land,  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  California's  insurance  for  health  is  more 
than  paid  for  every  child  in  America ! 

This  vital  question,  however,  is  not  one  of  dollars  and 
cents,  but  of  the  security  for  greater  educational  returns, 
and  the  saving  effected,  by  bringing  about  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  conditions  which  render  future  citizens  more 
efficient  for  life. 

The  most  important  and,  in  fact,  the  indispensable  ad- 
junct to  school  health,  next  to  medical  inspection,  is  the 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  HEALTH  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS         259 

school  nurse.  The  follow-up  work  is  impossible  without 
her.  Before  her  introduction  in  the  New  York  city  schools 
only  10  per  cent  of  the  cases  excluded  from  school  for  phys- 
ical troubles  returned.  After  her  introduction,  86  per 
cent  returned.  Through  her  cooperation,  diphtheria  cases 
have  decreased  two-thirds  and  scarlet  fever  five-sixths. 
The  nurse  gets  into  the  home,  prevents  loss  of  time,  and 
locates  the  cause  of  sickness  and  delinquency  in  a  way  im- 
possible for  either  teacher  or  doctor.  In  many  places, 
where  compulsory  education  is  in  force,  she  plays  the 
double  role  of  nurse  and  truant  officer.  She  acts  as  inter- 
mediary, correlates  the  work  of*  clinic,  home,  and  school, 
and  is  a  teacher  of  practical  applied  hygiene  to  pupil, 
teacher,  and  parent.  She  is  a  potent  possible  factor  also 
in  the  Americanization  of  our  foreigners.  We  know  the 
case  where  the  teacher  wrote  to  Johnny's  foreign  mother 
that  Johnny  must  be  kept  clean  in  school,  both  for  his  own 
sake  and  for  those  around  him.  The  answer  swiftly  came, 
fearfully  and  wonderfully  constructed  and  spelled:  "Jon 
aint  no  roze,  dont  smel  him,  lern  him."  It  is  the  school 
nurse  that  can  best  help  that  ignorant  mother  to  learn  that 
John  is  a  rose,  in  God's  great  garden  of  human  life,  influ- 
encing and  influenced  by  all  he  meets,  and  that  clean  hands 
and  bodies  and  clothes  help  to  clean  work  and  lives  and 
hearts  and  souls. 

Another  great  means  for  the  promotion  of  health  in 
schools  is  instruction  and  practice  in  preventive  care  of  the 
teeth,  and  dental  work  when  needed.  Of  the  very  great 
number  of  school  children  examined,  50  per  cent  have  been 
found  with  defective  teeth.  In  one  Southern  city,  where 
2,200  were  examined,  96  were  defective,  and  not  one  child 
had  had  dental  work  of  any  kind.  Now  who  can  study 
with  the  toothache?  In  some  of  our  Houston  schools  we 
have  a  dental  hygiene  catechism  studied  by  the  children, 
talks  on  care  of  the  teeth  by  experts,  and  free  clinic  work 
when  desired.  We  believe  with  Squeers,  that  the  way  to 
spell  both  "winder"  and  teeth  is  to  spell  them  "correct"  and 
then  go  wash  them.  In  some  of  our  schools  we  have  tooth- 
brushes for  each  child,  given  by  our  dental  association,  and 


260  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

daily  toothbrush  drills  on  the  school  grounds,  where  the 
teeth  are  thoroughly  cleaned  after  the  lunch  is  eaten.  As 
an  evidence  of  its  fruit,  we  were  rejoiced  at  a  full-page 
write-up,  in  a  great  daily,  of  toothbrush  drills  in  some  of 
the  Providence,  R.  L,  schools,  which  they  said  were  sug- 
gested by  moving  pictures,  seen  in  Boston,  of  this  work 
done  in  Houston,  Tex. !  Experts  declare  that,  if  preventive 
dental  work  now  started  is  sufficiently  continued,  within  a 
few  decades  artificial  teeth  will  be  as  unknown  and  as  un- 
necessary, among  civilized  people,  as  they  now  are  among 
the  savages! 

We  must  not  minimize  in  any  way  the  necessity,  in  the 
schools,  for  proper  feeding.  Statistics  conclusively  show 
that  improper  feeding  is  more  responsible  than  all  else  for 
race  degeneracy  and  the  increasing  number  of  defectives. 
I  heard  the  inimitable  Sam  Jones  once  tell  of  a  woman  who 
came  to  him  with  heart  grieved  and  soul  bowed,  because 
she  thought  she  had  "lost  her  religion."  He  said  there  was 
nothing  in  the  world  the  matter,  except  something  that  she 
had  "et!"  And  just  as  true  it  is  that  Mary's  pallor,  Mar- 
tha's lassitude,  and  Johnny's  pranks  and  truancy  are 
greatly  due  to  what  they  have  "et,"  and  sometimes  what 
they  have  iiot  "et."  Contrary  to  popular  belief,  the  great- 
est menace  to  health  and  society  is  not  the  underfed,  but 
the  overfed  and  badly  fed.  I  have  seen,  in  the  cafeteria 
attached  to  the  practice  school  of  one  of  our  greatest  Ameri- 
can universities,  a  pampered  child  of  the  rich  order  and  eat 
five  different  kinds  of  dessert  for  a  single  lunch !  Not  only 
are  sanitary  lunch  rooms  needed  in  every  school,  where 
warm,  economic,  and  wholesome  lunches  may  be  obtained 
by  all,  and  where  teachers  and  pupils  m2ist  take  at  least 
thirty  minutes  to  sit  at  separate  tables  and  eat  their  lunches 
in  quiet  and  enjoyment,  but  where  all  is  under  the  super- 
vision of  an  expert  dietitian,  who  knows,  practices,  and 
teaches  the  proper  balance  of  protein,  fat,  and  carbohy- 
drate, of  uncooked  and  bulky  foods,  and  all  the  other  pre- 
requisites to  scientific,  which  is  common-sense,  cookery. 
In  some  of  our  Houston  schools  we  have  not  stopped  at 
proper  feeding  for  school  children,  but  have  a  baby  clinic. 


RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  HEALTH  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  261 

where  all  babies  may  be  brought  and  measured  by  "better 
baby"  standards,  and  where  infant  care  and  feeding  and 
prenatal  influence  are  studied  by  the  mothers,  from  govern- 
ent  pamphlets,  and  through  the  free  and  voluntary  teach- 
ing of  an  expert  woman  physician. 

We  had  in  our  city  not  long  ago,  as  I  suspect  you  had 
in  yours,  lectures  on  how  to  keep  active  and  useful,  by  a 
woman  who  claimed  to  be  ninety-one  years  young!  Her 
health  rules  boiled  down  were  these :  Study  your  diet,  ex- 
ercise daily  every  muscle  of  the  body,  work  worthily  for 
self  and  humanity,  keep  serene,  and  feed  your  soul. 
Women  paid  her  as  much  as  $100  apiece  for  private  les- 
sons, to  learn  truths  which  should  have  been  taught  them 
from  infancy,  and  for  a  hundred  years  before  they  were 
born. 

Among  our  potent  means  for  securing  public  health 
we  must  not  fail  to  mention  play.  A  noted  judge  of  a 
juvenile  court  says  60  per  cent  of  all  truancy  which  leads 
to  delinquency  is  caused  by  lack  of  proper  playgrounds. 
Play  is  more  necessary  now  than  ever  before  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  Through  the  invention  of  labor-saving 
machinery  muscular  work  has  largely  gone.  The  average 
school  child's  work  is  six  hours  a  day,  for  ten  months  in 
the  year,  with  additional  home  work  of  from  one  to  four 
hours  per  day.  These  conditions  result  in  decreased  power 
to  live,  both  as  to  length  of  time  and  as  to  efficiency.  Every 
school  in  our  land  should  have  its  ample,  well-equipped 
playgrounds.  Aside  from  enjoyment  and  physical  upbuild, 
the  psychologic  fact  remains  that  "a  passive  chest  induces 
the  things  for  which  a  passive  chest  stands,"  and  the  men- 
tal and  moral  results  from  organized  play  can  never  be  told 
this  side  the  final  day  of  reckoning.  Millions  have  been 
spent  in  our  large  cities  on  physical  equipment.  Yet,  allow- 
ing just  three  yards  square  per  child,  only  one  child  in  ten 
could  be  given  play  room.  Just  room  enough  to  play  a 
game  of  craps  or  smoke  a  cigarette !  Is  it  a  wonder,  then, 
that  these  are  among  the  favorite  American  juvenile  diver- 
sions? Every  school  that  needs  it  should  have  its  baths  and 
swimming  pool — not  only  for  cleanliness,  health,  and  enjoy- 


262  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

ment,  but  as  direct  means  toward  preservation  of  life.  The 
ologies  and  isms  of  life  are  great,  within  their  proper  place, 
but  all  else  fades  to  insignificance  when  compared  with 
knowledge,  or  practice,  that  teaches  how  to  live,  both 
lengthily  and  well. 

To  sum  up,  we  need  medical  inspection  in  our  schools. 
We  need  the  school  visiting  nurse  who  can  weld  together 
the  work  of  the  clinic,  school,  and  home,  and  be  a  health 
teacher  from  personal  cleanliness  to  sex  hygiene.  We  need 
instruction  and  practice  in  the  care  of  teeth  and  in  proper 
feeding.  We  need  ample  playgrounds,  with  all  the  joy  and 
health-giving  equipment  that  thought  and  ingenuity  can 
devise.  We  need  simple  health  rules  printed  on  the  cover 
of  every  textbook.  We  need  an  auditorium  where  health 
talks  may  be  given  to  the  entire  community,  and  where 
healthful,  happy  programs  shall  be  a  part  of  the  daily  cur- 
riculum. We  need  well-paid,  well-trained,  Christian  teach- 
ers, who  can  keep  healthy  and  happy  themselves,  and,  by 
example  as  well  as  precept,  teach  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  health  and  happiness. 


TEACHING  HEALTH  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

PROFESSOR  JAMES  P.  FAULKNER,  EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY  RAOUL 
FOUNDATION,  ATLANTA,  GA. 

The  public  health  movement  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
existed  before  the  discoveries  of  Pasteur,  Koch,  and  their 
colaborers,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  germ 
theory  of  disease.  Certainly  it  did  not  have,  and  could  not 
sooner  have  had,  any  definite  scientific  basis  or  limitations. 

The  enunciation  of  Pasteur's  famous  dictum,  "It  is  with- 
in the  power  of  man  to  cause  all  germ  diseases  to  disappear 
from  the  earth,"  may  be  said  both  to  have  marked  the  be- 
ginning of  the  age  of  preventive  medicine  and  to  have  given 
definite  scope  to  the  public  health  movement.  Immediately 
the  public  health  was  seen  to  depend  upon  sanitation,  hous- 
ing, nutrition,  and  disease  recognized  as  an  economic  prob- 


TEACHING  HEALTH  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  263 

lem,  a  sociological  problem,  an  educational  problem,  educa- 
tional not  only  in  the  sense  that  it  was  a  good  subject  for 
the  popular  lecturer,  but  a  problem  which  the  school  would 
be  expected  to  take  a  part  in  solving. 

And  the  schools  were  not  slow  in  undertaking  the  task, 
but  their  methods  were  inadequate,  and,  in  many  instances, 
poor.  Unfortunately  this  condition  still  obtains.  Text- 
books on  Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  Hygiene  were  rapidly 
introduced  and  classes  set  to  work  to  commit  to  memory 
the  names  of  all  the  bones  and  muscles,  to  learn  the  function 
of  all  the  organs,  and  to  memorize  numerous  rules,  just  as 
if  these  things  had  something  to  do  with  health. 

The  want  of  the  practical  element  in  the  presentation  of 
the  subject  led  many  students  to  consider  it  just  another 
text  upon  which  they  must  be  examined,  something  to  be 
thoroughly  hated,  and  a  study,  like  many  others,  to  be  for- 
gotten as  soon  as  possible. 

The  textbook  method  is  still  widely,  almost  universally, 
used.  Less  than  three  months  ago  I  visited  a  little  country 
school  where  no  attention  was  given  to  ventilation,  no  re- 
gard to  the  direction  or  the  amount  of  light,  no  adjustment 
of  desks,  no  separate  drinking  cups,  no  toilets  whatever; 
and  the  teacher  so  ignorant  himself  and  thoughtless  of  the 
worth  of  example  as  to  spit  upon  the  floor,  except  when  he 
did  not  miss  a  crack  at  which  he  constantly  aimed;  and  yet 
a  splendid  exhibition  was  given  of  the  use  of  the  textbook. 
I  was  to  talk  to  the  school  on  matters  of  health,  but  before 
I  was  introduced  the  teacher  must  show  me  how  little  they 
need  any  suggestions  from  me.  After  his  questioning  it 
developed  that  they  knew  the  bones,  could  recite  their  names 
in  singsong  fashion,  knew  most  of  the  muscles  and  could 
illustrate  by  movements  those  of  the  arms  and  hands.  They 
also  knew  the  number  of  teeth  in  the  child  and  adult  stages 
and  the  names  of  their  divisions,  biit  there  was  no  word 
concerning  the  preservation  of  the  teeth  or  the  use  of  the 
toothbrush.  They  could  tell,  in  answer  to  the  teacher's  ques- 
tions, that  there  were  two  skins  and  could  give  the  name 
of  each,  but  there  was  nothing  about  bodily  cleanliness  or 


264  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  necessity  of  soap.  They  knew  that  they  had  a  heart 
and  a  stomach  and  some  other  organs,  but  there  was  noth- 
ing developed  in  the  questioning  to  show  how  these  organs 
were  to  be  kept  in  a  normal  condition  or  the  result  of  their 
abuse. 

This  is  an  extreme  case,  of  course,  but  one  would  think 
that  the  sound  principle  of  education — learn  by  doing — 
would  have  made  such  an  exhibition  impossible  anywhere 
long  ago.  Certainly  the  discoveries  in  medical  science  and 
the  changes  in  our  thought  concerning  the  causes,  preven- 
tion, and  treatment  of  disease  are  as  revolutionary  as  hu- 
man, and  as  helpful  as  anything  that  has  occurred  either 
in  the  field  of  education  or  theology. 

Dr.  Victor  C.  Vaughn,  then  President  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  declared,  in  an  address  in  Newport, 
Ky.,  in  1914,  that  nearly  85  per  cent  of  the  deaths  that 
occur  yearly  are  preventable.  The  statement  is  startling; 
and,  from  such  an  authority,  does  not  invite  dispute,  but 
appeals  for  action.  It  calls  for  a  program — a  definite  plan 
of  campaign  which  should  not  be  difficult  to  outline. 

All  germ  diseases  and  some  of  the  so-called  degenera- 
tive diseases,  though  incurable,  are  preventable;  and  sani- 
tation, scientific  sanitation,  offer^  the  solution  in  the  one 
case  and  normal  living  in  the  other.  The  warfare  against 
disease  must  be  therefore  both  offensive  and  defensive. 
The  enemy  may  be  attacked  on  his  own  ground  or  fortified 
against  in  anticipation  of  attack.  The  old  way  to  health 
was  sought  through  the  pill,  patent  medicine,  and  pre- 
scription; the  new  way  to  health  comes  through  the  prin- 
ciple of  indirection  or  prevention. 

A  number  of  years  ago  a  State  agricultural  lecturer  in 
discussing  his  work  with  me  declared  that  his  department 
realized  its  mistake.  "We  have  been  trying  to  teach  scien- 
tific agriculture  to  graybeards,"  he  declared,  "and  we  have 
failed.  We  shall  not  discard  the  method  altogether,  for 
a  few  may  hear  us,  and  we  must  keep  up  appearances ;  but 
we  are  going  to  make  our  appeal  to  the  children.  We  shall 
organize  corn  clubs  and  tomato  clubs,  and  we  shall  make 


TEACHING  HEALTH  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  265 

the  schools  our  allies.    We  shall  teach  the  parents  through 
the  children." 

"You  are  right,"  I  said,  "and  we  have  made  the  same 
mistake.  We  can  no  more  teach  the  graybeards  health  than 
you  can  teach  them  agriculture.  We,  too,  are  going  to 
enlist  the  teachers  and  the  schools.  We  shall  continue  our 
appeals  to  the  public,  but  shall  rely  largely  upon  the  chil- 
dren becoming  the  teachers  of  their  parents." 

About  the  same  time  our  State  Board  of  Health  caught 
the  vision.  "We  have  sufficient  knowledge,"  they  declared 
in  a  bulletin,  "to  reduce  the  death  rate  to  a  minimum,  but 
we  are  lacking  in  machinery.  We  must  enlist  the  teachers 
and  the  school  children."  The  State  Department  of  Educa- 
tion responded  to  the  call  for  recruits  by  outlining  a  course 
of  health  instruction  for  every  grade  in  every  public  school 
in  the  State,  and  prefaced  the  course  by  the  statement  that 
every  school  that  year  was  to  be  measured  by  four  yard- 
sticks: First,  physical  health;  second,  moral  health:  third, 
efficiency  or  ability  to  make  a  living;  fourth,  appreciation 
of  things. 

A  splendid  program  this,  and  it  accomplished  a  great 
deal  of  good,  but  its  effectiveness  was  discounted  because 
it  caught  the  teachers  unprepared,  and  the  campaign,  there- 
fore, dwindled  again  to  the  proportions  of  a  textbook 
course. 

Soon  thereafter  it  was  my  privilege,  reenforced  by  an 
exhibit  car,  to  put  the  matter  before  the  teachers  directly 
in  the  institutes,  mv  first  aim  being  to  impress  them  with 
the  importance  of  the  problem  and  accustom  them  to  think 
of  themselves  as  public  health  agents.  To  do  this  it  was 
only  necessary  to  remind  them  of  the  non-medical  factors 
that  might  be  used  in  the  public  health  campaign  and  the 
splendid  results  to  be  obtained  thereby.  Of  course,  I  called 
their  attention  to  the  appeal  of  the  State  Board  of  Health 
and  sought  to  inspire  in  them  the  spirit  of  the  social  worker 
or  nurse  and  the  vision  and  courage  of  the  crusader. 

In  the  second  place  they  were  reminded  of  the  power  of 
example  as  a  factor  in  teaching  and  urged  to  give  imme- 


266  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

diate  attention,  if  necessary,  to  their  own  physical  condi- 
tion. The  possibility  and  importance  of  living  up  to  "con- 
cert pitch"  physically  was  emphasized  and  many  sugges- 
tions of  a  helpful  nature  were  made,  the  thought  being  that 
the  teacher  should  radiate  and  illustrate  health  in  the 
schoolroom,  on  the  playground,  and  everywhere  should  lure 
to  joyous,  healthful  living  and  lead  the  way. 

The  appointments  of  the  schoolroom,  the  grounds,  and 
surroundings  were  not  forgotten,  and  the  possibility  was 
stressed  of  the  teacher  making  these  conform  to  her  ideals 
and  thus  become  significant  factors  in  the  health  movement 
through  persuasion  and  the  power  of  her  personality. 

My  third  attempt  was  to  discourage  the  use  of  the  text- 
book in  the  class,  and  the  teacher  was  urged  to  make  only 
such  use  of  it  as  necessary,  to  digest  its  contents  and  assimi- 
late them,  but  to  take  care  to  speak  as  one  knowing  and 
having  authority  and  not  as  the  quacks  and  dilettantes. 
The  plea  was  also  made  to  remove  the  subject  entirely  from 
the  class  of  texts  upon  which  examinations  were  to  be  re- 
quired, the  object  being  to  create  a  vital  interest  and  to 
avoid  a  blighting  aversion. 

It  was  suggested  also  that  no  specific  time  be  fixed  when 
health  matters  should  be  discussed,  the  idea  being  that  it 
should  come  as  a  surprise  and  be  looked  forward  to  as  a 
time  of  recreation  and  entertainment,  a  kind  of  excursion 
away  from  anything  in  the  nature  of  drudgery  into  the 
fields  of  frolic  and  fun  and  inspiration  to  the  highest  and 
best  physically. 

My  next  endeavor  was  an  attempt  to  approach  the  sub- 
ject specifically,  to  illustrate  the  principle  of  indirection,  to 
suggest  a  factor  which,  employed  by  the  teacher,  would  not 
only  bear  immediate  fruit,  but  seek  forceful  expression 
through  the  years  to  come.  Attention  was  therefore  called 
to  the  fact  that  filth  and  ugliness  always  do  and  always 
will  vanish  before  the  aesthetic  sense,  and  that  if  the  sense 
of  the  beautiful  has  lodgment  in  one's  thought,  it  will  find 
expression  in  the  body  and  in  the  surroundings;  that  such 
a  person  can  never  be  contented  in  a  home  of  squalor  and 


TEACHING  HEALTH  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  267 

surrounded  with  conditions  that  breed  disease.  If  the  means 
of  escape  are  not  at  hand,  the  aesthetic  sense  will  manifest 
itself  and  the  environment  will  be  changed.  I  have  urged, 
therefore,  as  the  supreme  factor  in  bringing  about  sanitary 
conditions,  in  combating  the  filth  diseases,  the  cleaning  up 
of  the  back  yards,  the  back  alleys,  and  the  stable  yards  of 
the  future,  the  inoculation  by  the  teacher,  through  the  power 
of  suggestion,  of  every  child  in  his  care  with  the  sense  of 
the  beautiful. 

Of  course  the  teacher  is  cautioned  and  must  be  cautioned 
not  to  let  his  purpose  be  known.  If  he  sometimes  fails  to 
get  a  response,  if  the  object  that  appeals  to  him  as  beauti- 
ful fails  to  arouse  a  like  expression  in  his  pupils,  he  must 
not  scold  nor  express  disappointment,  but  continue  his  sug- 
gestions, searching  through  Nature's  laboratories  of  field, 
and  stream,  of  roadside  and  forest,  of  mountain  and  the 
star-spangled  heavens  for  that  which  will  interest  and 
kindle  a  flame  that  is  later  to  consume  filth  and  ugliness, 
and  that  will  later  build  the  home  and  the  city  beautiful 
and  healthful. 

But  teaching  by  precept  has  and  must  continue  to  have 
a  place  in  the  program,  and  at  this  point  the  story  is  to  be 
utilized.  To  illustrate  this  phase  of  the  teaching,  I  have 
usually  taken  classes  of  children  before  the  institutes  and 
demonstrated  the  method  of  presenting  the  health  subject, 
separate  addresses,  suitable  to  the  first,  second,  and  third 
grades,  on  one  hand,  and  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  on  the 
other,  and  again  to  the  upper  grades,  being  given.  In  this 
work  I  seek  only  to  give  an  example  of  what  can  be  done, 
and  always  urge  the  teacher  to  use  stories  and  outlines 
to  begin  with,  if  he  needs  them,  but  to  call  upon  his  own 
resources  and  to  be  constantly  on  the  alert  for  something 
new  that  will  illustrate  the  thought  he  wishes  to  impress. 

It  has  been  my  thought  that  talks  of  this  nature  need 
not  be  given  more  frequently  than  once  every  two  weeks 
or  once  a  month.  And  in  city  schools,  where  a  special  in- 
structor in  physical  training  or  a  supervisor  of  play  is  em- 
ployed, he  or  she  should  be  looked  to  for  some  of  the  ad- 


2G8  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

dresses.  A  social-spirited  doctor  or  other  citizen  may  be 
judiciously  used.  Of  course,  the  illustrations  and  stories 
should  not  relate  simply  to  the  sanitary  program,  but  should 
cover  the  entire  subject  of  the  development  of  the  body,  or 
normal  living.  For  the  lower  grades  the  Mother  Goose 
rhymes  can  be  changed  into  health  rhymes  and  utilized. 
For  the  intermediate  and  higher  grades  demonstrations  can 
be  made  of  the  effect  of  intemperance,  the  cigarette,  im- 
proper diet,  and  certain  forms  <5f  vice  upon  the  natural 
defenders  of  the  body — the  white  corpuscles — while  pride 
in  the  body,  respect  for  its  beauty  of  form,  and  the  desire 
to  excel  physically  can  be  inculcated.  And  one  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  use  of  stories,  of  course.  They  are  used  to 
illustrate  and  entertain,  and  along  with  them,  though  clothed 
in  attractive  form,  may  be  imparted  the  very  basic  facts 
of  health.  If  health  is  something  worth  working  for  and 
living  for,  and  not  something  to  be  obtained  through  prayer 
and  supplications  alone,  or  to  be  bought  at  the  drug  store, 
it  will  be  readily  seen  that  it  is  ours  to  combat  disease 
throughithe  implantation  of  the  principles  of  health  in  the 
school. 

Another  factor  that  the  teacher  must  use  is  play,  or- 
ganized play.  But  again  he  must  be  cautioned  not  to  let  it 
be  known  that  the  object  sought  is  health.  Here  the  prin- 
ciple of  suggestion  is  splendidly  illustrated.  The  great 
advantage  of  play  over  work  and  systematic  exercise  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  interest  is  on  the  game,  and  the  thought 
is  taken  away  from  the  body  and  bodily  conditions,  thus 
giving  the  recuperative  powers  a  chance. 

A  final  factor  and  one  that  has  only  recently  come  into 
vogue  is  the  short  play,  of  which  there  are  now  dozens  suit- 
able for  staging  in  the  simplest  one-room  country  school 
or  the  city  high  school.  Different  short  plays  emphasize 
the  different  features  of  the  health  movement,  and  not  only 
impress  upon  the  school  in  the  most  effective  manner  every 
phase  of  the  health  propaganda,  but  have  almost  an  equally 
good  effect  upon  the  parents  who  are  drawn  to  the  school 
by  the  unusual  programs. 


THE  CHILD  AND  HEREDITY  269 

I  have  made  it  a  practice  to  give  a  book  of  these  small 
plays  to  the  teachers  who,  after  hearing  them  described, 
expressed  a  desire  to  use  them  in  their  schools. 

The  foregoing  is  an  outline  of  health  instruction  as  de- 
veloped during  several  years  of  experience  in  public  health 
v^'ork  in  Kentucky,  and  for  a  little  more  than  a  year  I  have 
been  advocating  and  putting  into  effect  the  same  methods 
in  my  work  with  the  Raoul  Foundation  in  Georgia,  the 
Department  of  Education  being  in  thorough  accord  with 
the  program,  and  in  reality  calling  for  more  of  my  time 
and  more  demonstrations  and  illustrations  of  the  method 
before  institutes  than  I  could  possibly  give. 

Just  recently  in  Atlanta  under  the  auspices  of  the  Col- 
ored Anti-Tuberculosis  Association  we  have  introduced  the 
plan  in  Jthe  colored  schools,  and  instead  of  sending  special 
lecturers  into  the  various  schools  during  clean-up  week, 
the  teachers  have  met  in  two  sections  on  several  successive 
Thursday  afternoons  when  definite  instruction  has  been 
given  to  them.  In  other  words,  it  is  hoped  to  send  the 
gospel  of  good  health  through  the  teachers  to  every  child 
and  into  every  home. 


THE   CHILD  AND  HEREDITY 
REV.  RICHARD  W.  HOGUE,  D.D. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  ancient  idiomatic  sentence, 
"The  spirit  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak."  I  heard  only 
recently  of  the  outcome  of  the  effort  of  the  Chinese  to 
re-translate  this  easily  understood  idiom  into  his  foreign 
tongue;  the  result  was  the  following  somewhat  astounding 
sentence:  "The  ghost  is  acquiescent,  but  the  meat  is  not 
strong."  I  thought  of  this  somewhat  humorous  illustration 
as  it  applies  to  the  predicament  of  any  man,  even  the  highest 
specialist,  who  seeks  to  re-translate  the  simplicity  of  the 
child,  so  wholly  without  guile,  into  the  psychology  of  social 
science.  With  this  as  an  apology  for  one  who  is  not  a 
specialist  in  child  study,  but  only  an  intense  and  passionate 


270  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

lover  of  the  child,  I  shall  talk  with  you,  in  an  informal 
fashion,  along  lines  which  I  trust  will  be  practically  helpful 
in  proportion  as  they  are  not  scientifically  phrased.  Let 
me  begin  with  two  illustrations  drawn  from  my  sphere  of 
service  among  criminals,  in  the  midst  of  their  families,  and 
in  the  lives  of  their  victims.  Certainly  this  is  a  justifiable 
and  fruitful  field  for  illustration  of  the  harm  of  an  evil 
heredity  of  multitudes  of  children,  particularly  in  our  large 
cities.  Gilbert  Jones  (we  shall  call  him  in  order  to  avoid 
the  use  of  his  real  name)  is  a  young  fellow  of  unusually 
fine  physique  and  splendid  mental  equipment,  with  a  good 
inheritancy  and  the  environment  of  an  unusually  wholesome 
home.  At 'the  age  of  nineteen,  surrounded  by  friends  and 
in  a  life  of  active  occupation,  Gilbert  is  accused  of  and  then 
convicted  of  theft.  The  evidence  proves  that  it  has  "become 
a  habit  with  him.  The  general  conclusion  was  that  here  was 
another  young  fellow  living  beyond  his  means  and  in  the 
gay  life — swept  off  his  feet.  This,  however,  is  the  real  diag- 
nosis revealed  in  the  searching  interview  with  his  father 
and  mother:  For  the  first  six  months  when  his  life  began, 
in  that  real  beginning  before  he  entered  the  world,  his 
mother  was  stricken  with  a  strange  malady  which  baffled 
the  physicians,  robbed  her  of  vitality,  and  brought  her  to 
the  point  where  her  own  life  was  seriously  endangered,  and 
the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  specialists  called  in  was  that 
the  child  was  undoubtedly  dead.  Through  an  unusual  cir- 
cumstance that  led  to  the  discovery  by  accident  of  a  treat- 
ment for  the  mother,  the  next  three  months  brought  the 
gradual  restoration  of  her  strength.  In  desperate  antici- 
pation of  a  sub-normal  and  perhaps  mentally  defective  child, 
the  anguish  of  her  trial  was  spent.  To  the  astonishment  of 
all,  there  came  a  little  infant  of  maivelous  perfect  physical 
proportions,  who  in  later  years  developed  an  unusual 
intellect. 

Seemingly,  there  was  no  problem  of  heredity  for  this 
child  to  battle  against.  In  reality  there  was  a  serious  and 
a  tragic  one.  It  was  discovered  when  the  boy  was  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  that  his  moral  sense  had  not  developed 


THE  CHILD  AND  HEREDITY  271 

beyond  the  age  of  a  child  of  eight,  and  that  it  was  accom- 
panied by  an  apparent  absence  of  any  sense  of  the  difference 
between  his  right  of  possession  and  that  of  other  people. 
Without  shame  and  without  fear,  as  a  little  child,  he  would 
take  things  belonging  to  others.  This  was  known  to  his 
mother.  This  was  her  battle;  in  the  secret  struggle  of 
prayer,  in  the  earnest  oversight  of  her  boy's  conduct,  and 
in  the  patient  effort  toward  his  training.  It  was  only  when 
a  crime  against  society  was  detected  that  the  power  of  this 
subtly  harmful  heredity  was  revealed. 

The  second  instance  is  at  the  other  extreme,  and  is  from 
that  abundant  field  of  physical  defects,  but  with  their  pecu- 
liar application  to  social  wrong.  Ralph's  inheritance,  mor- 
ally and  mentally,  was  above  the  average.  His  mother, 
therefore,  was  baffled  by  his  failure  to  keep  up  with  his  class 
as  a  little  lad  in  the  public  school.  She  sent  him  to  the 
doctor,  and  as  a  result  a  serious  defect  in  his  eyesight  was 
discovered  and  he  was  compelled  to  wear  glasses.  It  was 
at  a  time  and  in  a  community  where  the  wearing  of  glasses 
by  little  children  was  a  most  unusual  sight.  Ralph's  nature 
was  high-strung,  sensitive,  and  proud.  You  can  quickly 
realize,  therefore,  the  effect  upon  him  of  the  jeers  and  taunts 
and  fun-making  which  greeted  his  first  appearance  at  school 
with  the  big  wide  glasses  covering  a  large  part  of  his  small 
child  face.  It  drove  his  little  soul  back  into  its  sensitive 
shell.  He  said  to  himself:  "I  am  not  responsible  for  these 
weak  eyes;  God  is.  I  do  not  deserve  to  be  shunned  and 
laughed  at  by  my  playmates.  It  is  their  fault."  All  the 
while,  buried  deep  beneath  the  crust  of  his  silent  resent- 
ment and  willful  separation,  there  lay  the  yearning  for 
companionship  that  is  so  large  a  part  of  every  child.  The 
opportunity  came  a  little  later  in  the  alleys  and  the  pool 
rooms.  He  was  taught  a  few  tricks,  the  practice  of  which 
meant  fellowship,  and  in  his  quest  of  fellowship  he  lost  his 
half-formed  sense  of  moral  responsibility.  He  was  detected 
in  a  misdemeanor  and  punished  beyond  all  proportion  either 
to  the  act  or  the  really  guiltless  motive  behind  it.  Once 
again  he  held  himself  less  responsible  than  society,  and  in 


272  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

resentment  against  the  law  that  with  all  of  its  wisdom 
could  so  little  understand  his  nature  and  could  so  inordi- 
nately punish  his  misdemeanor,  he  bagan  the  career  of  crime 
which  brought  a  bank  robber,  safe  blower,  and  train  robber. 
He  spent  seventeen  years  behind  the  bars,  and  if  I  can  give 
no  other  suggestion  which  you  will  carry  with  you  from 
this  Conference,  let  me  suggest  that  you  at  least  get  a  copy 
of  the  book  that  is  written  by  this  man  whom  I  now  love 
to  count  as  my  friend,  and  who  is  living  a  life  of  fidelity 
to  his  splendid  wife  and  child  as  well  as  to  the  laws  of  good 
citizenship.  It  is  entitled,  "Seventeen  Years  in  the  Under- 
world," by  Wellington  Scott,  which  of  course  is  not  his  real 
name.  It  is  not,  as  its  title  seems  to  suggest,  a  description 
of  underworld  scenes  and  characters,  but  an  illuminating, 
inside  interpretation  of  the  mind  of  the  criminal  and  his 
treatment  by  society  and  the  law,  with  particular  emphasis 
upon  his  treatment  as  a  child. 

To  my  mind  one  of  the  most  deadly  heritages  of  the  child 
is  what  we  might  term  the  negative  inheritance  which  affects 
multitudes  of  children  born  to  parents  whose  lives  are  with- 
out any  positive  motive  power,  creative  ambition,  or  intel- 
lectual stimulus.  Think  for  a  moment  of  what  a  tragedy 
lies  behind  the  indictment  that  as  a  whole  the  American 
people  are  a  non-reading  people,  so  far  as  real  literature  is 
concerned.  How  little  of  history,  poetry,  music  is  read 
nowadays ;  how  little  of  anything  but  the  daily  newspaper, 
of  which  one  of  our  Senators  has  recently  said :  "There  is 
nothing  so  dead  as  yesterday's  paper." 

And  the  rich?  To  what  do  they  turn  as  a  relief  from 
the  satiety  of  their  lives  of  luxury?  Generally  to  the  society 
column  or  the  stock  market.  Now  all  this  goes  into  the 
make-up  of  the  child  in  that  nine-months'  period  which  fre- 
quently forms  a  larger  part  of  t\\e  education  of  the  future 
child  than  the  first  ten  years  of  its  life  in  the  world,  that 
period  in  which  not  merely  bone  and  blood  and  shape  are 
given  to  the  body,  but  stimulus  and  bent  and  tendency  and 
power  are  stored  up  in  the  mental  and  spiritual  being.  What 
can  we  expect  from  such  an  inheritance  but  just  what  wo 
are  getting — a  complexity  of  problems,  an  enormity  of  sub- 


THE  CHILD  AND  HEREDITY  273 

normal  and  abnormal  beings,  and  an  increasing  rather  than 
a  decreasing  supply  of  victims  to  every  possible  form  of 
tejnptation? 

One  of  our  government's  pure  food  inspectors  told  me 
recenth  that  a  gentleman  out  West  in  opening  a  can  of 
oysters  found  in  it  a  man's  thumb.  This  incident  stands  to 
me  as  a  symbol  of  what  is  going  on  every  day  in  our  great 
cities.  The  nerves,  the  joy,  the  sunshine,  the  minds,  the 
opportunities,  the  consciences  of  little  children  are  being 
canned  in  a  process  as  steady  and  relentless  as  it  is  pos- 
sible for  human  ingenuity  to  develop  and  human  greed  to 
devise.  I  have  seen  mothers  who  ought  to  be  at  home  where 
they  had  left  children — many  of  them  almost  on  the  eve  of 
bringing  children  into  life — work  with  feverish  speed, 
according  to  our  modern  piece-work  pay,  in  canneries  and 
in  factories.  The  effect  of  all  this  is  enormous  injustice  and 
untold  waste,  to  say  nothing  of  its  moral  and  spiritual 
aspects.  We  have  but  to  ask  the  question  in  order  to  answer 
it  in  the  same  breath — What  will  the  next  generation,  and 
the  next,  and  the  next  be  if  this  process  is  allowed  to  con- 
tinue? What  is  our  attitude  toward  it?  What  is  our  inter- 
est in  it?  That  of  indifferent  citizenship,  which  is  as  great 
a  crime  as  deliberate  wrong,  or  that  of  receiving  profits  in 
the  dividends  or  products  of  those  industries  which  coin 
motherhood  and  childhood  into  cash.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  environment  and  occupation  of  to-day  create  the 
inheritance  of  to-morrow ! 

"No  fledgeling'  feeds  the  father  bird, 
No  chicken  feeds  the  hen, 
No  kitten  mouses  for  the  cat — 
This  glory  is  for  men. 

"We  are  the  wisest,  strongest  race — 
Lord,  may  our  praise  be  sung! 
The  only  animal  alive 

That  feeds  upon  its  young!" 

Of  course  every  child  has  a  right  to  be  born  with  a  body 
free  from  inherited  diseases.  There  is  no  need  to  dwell  on 
this  subject  to  this  group.    I  mention  it  only  to  suggest  to 

18 


274  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

you  a  most  important  movement,  just  in  its  beginning,  to 
which  I  would  have  you  lend  all  the  force  of  your  backing — 
whenever,  wherever,  and  however  you  may.  I  refer  to  the 
movement  on  the  part  of  an  increasing  number  of  fearless 
and  social-minded  physicians  who  are  seeking  to  viake  all 
venereal  diseases  as  reportable  as  smallpox  or  scarlet  fever. 
Above  almost  everything  else,  the  child  has  an  inalien- 
able right  to  a  home.  You  doubtless  think  that  this  goes 
without  saying.  It  also  goes  without  sanction  to  an  alarming 
extent  throughout  this  favored,  civilized  land  of  ours. 
Reflect  for  a  moment  upon  these  facts  culled  from  the  most 
recent  news  letter  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina :  "Our 
homeless  people  form  three-fifths  of  our  entire  population 
in  the  country  at  large.  In  North  Carolina  52  per  cent  of 
all  of  our  dwellings  in  town  and  country  regions  are  occu- 
pied by  renters;  1,180,000  of  our  people  of  both  races  are 
landless  and  homeless.  Twenty-eight  States  make  a  better 
showing  in  ownership  of  homes  and  farms,  and  seventeen 
a  poorer  showing.  In  Asheville,  Charlotte,  and  Wilmington 
two-thirds  of  the  people  live  in  rented  dwellings,  in  Raleigh 
70  per  cent,  Durham  71  per  cent,  Winston  72  per  cent. 
Greensboro  leads  in  home  ownership,  and  yet  62  per  cent 
of  her  people  are  without  homes.  In  Jersey  City,  Brooklyn, 
and  Boston  twenty  people  in  the  hundred  own  all  the  dwell- 
ings. In  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  ninety-four  people  in 
the  hundred  are  renters.  Upon  an  average  a  little  more  than 
half  of  our  farm  tenants  in  the  South  move  every  year.  In 
some  States  the  ratio  of  change  is  larger."  There  is  no  need 
to  dwell  on  the  effect  of  this  anomalous  reversion  to  a  prac- 
tice of  barbarism  upon  the  children  to  whom  home  is  a 
right  and  a  necessary  blessing. 

THE  child's  unsocial  INHERITANCE 

Take  the  conversation  of  the  average  husband  and  wife 
(when  they  are  caught  in  the  rare  act  of  conversing)  in 
the  average  home,  around  the  table,  or  in  the  sitting  room, 
where  the  eager  ears  of  the  little  children  are  open  to  the 
permanent  impression  of  everything  they  hear.  It  is  just  as 
the  time  when  the  subconscious  absorption  by  the  child  of 


THE  CHILD  AND  HEREDITY  275 

the  ideas  and  ideals  which  it  hears  is  apt  to  produce  the 
most  formative  effect  upon  the  temper,  tone,  character,  and 
outlook  of  the  child.  And  yet  that  conversation  is,  as  a 
rule,  not  only  superficial  and  petty,  but  miserably  self- 
centered  ;  it  is  a  succession  of  trivialities  concerning  details 
of  their  narrow  self-interests,  their  engagements,  their 
dress,  their  automobile,  their  vacation.  What  is  more  cer- 
tain than  the  implanting  within  the  child  of  the  unsocial,  the 
individualistic,  the  selfish  spirit?  It  has  become  a  proverb 
that  our  greatest  men  have  come  from  the  country,  and  this 
fact  is  attributed  in  large  measure  to  the  bigness  and 
freedom  and  vision  which  they  there  gain.  I  am  prone  to 
attribute  it  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  the  neighborliness  of 
country  life,  to  the  common  consciousness  of  the  oneness 
of  the  people's  joys  and  the  people's  sorrows,  as  well  as  to 
the  fact  that  everything  seems  to  belong  to  everybody.  There 
is  not  the  separating,  the  isolating  and  dividing  process 
which  is  "the  life  of  our  great  cities.  The  child  grows  up 
in  the  sight  of  the  great  woods,  and  is  not  told  that  they 
are  the  property  of  Mr.  So-and-So,  the  pastures  are  free, 
the  daisies  belong  to  all,  the  streams,  the  great  broad  sky — 
al!  these  are  a  part  of  the  child's  subconscious  inheritance 
of  a  great,  kindly,  inclusive,  generous  world. 

In  our  cities  children  grow  up  conscious  thai  everything 
is  claimed  by  somebody — from  the  jitney-bus  to  the  Wool- 
worth  sky-scraper.  The  flowers  are  owned  by  the  florist 
and  must  be  bought  with  money,  or  if  owned  by  the  city 
must  not  be  plucked  for  fear  of  a  policeman.  There  is  not 
even  the  larger  social  consciousness  of  the  community  as 
a  family-unit  owning  its  own  utilities,  the  very  arteries 
that  are  as  necessary  in  linking  life  to  life  as  the  arteries  of 
the  separate  body  are  to  its  unity  and  health.  These  are 
owned  and  controlled  by  small  groups  of  men  who  manipu- 
late them  and  their  profits,  as  well  as  the  cost  for  their  use, 
behind  the  closed  doors  of  corporation  offices.  To  me  there 
is  a  vital  connection  between  the  dwarfing  of  the  social  con- 
sciousness and  the  narrowing  of  the  social  vision  of  the 
child  and  the  effect  of  private  ownership  of  the  public  utili- 
ties in  the  great  corporate  home  life  of  the  city  of  the  child. 


276  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Let  us  go  back  feeling  that  every  child  is  your  child 
and  my  child,  that  the  heart  that  loves  childhood  may  be 
more  truly  a  parent-heart  than  that  of  a  mother  or  father 
who  has  neither  the  consciousness  nor  the  interpretation  of 
real  parenthood.    Let  us  remember  that,  in  a  sense,  to  be  an 
adult  is  to  be  a  parent,  and  that  to  foster  and  protect  and 
love  to  the  uttermost  every  child  may  bring  a  deeper  joy 
and  a  more  profound  help  into  our  lives  than  the  selfish 
sense  of  private  possession  of  a  child  whom  we  call  our 
own.     In  doing  this  we  are  just  responding  to  an  eternal 
law  of  response  that  God  plants  in  us.     We  are  not  forcing 
ourselves  to  do  anything  abnormal ;  and,  above  all,  we  are 
not  arousing  by  compulsion  a  sense  of  a  superior  benevo- 
lence and  lofty  dictation  from  above  to  the  child  below.    We 
are  instead  appropriating  for  ourselves  the  spirit  of  the 
Christ,  who  once  long  ago  set  the  child  in  the  midst  of  a 
critical  and  alienating  group  as  an  eternal  symbol  that 
childhood  must  ever  be  in  the  midst  of  our  civilizlition  and 
in  the  center  of  our  hearts — supreme.     The  other  night  I 
was  in  the  smoking  compartment  of  a  Pullman  car  with  a 
group  of  men  who  were  engaged  in  conversation  rather 
more  jocular  and  profane  than  one  is  apt  to  find  nowadays. 
As  I  sat  there,  I  wondered  what  I  might  say,  and  how  say 
it,  to  help  change  not  only  the  conversation  but  the  concep- 
tion of  life  voiced  by  these  men.     I  did  not  have  to  speak 
at  all,  for  suddenly  the  curtain  at  the  door  parted  and  a 
young  father  entered  with  a  little  baby  in  his  arms  about 
two  years  of  age.    He  sat  the  child  down  in  one  of  the  seats 
and  began  to  prepare  it  for  its  berth.    Over  the  lips  of  eveiy 
man  who  had  spoken  coarsely  but  a  moment  before  spread 
a  smile  that  was  pure  and  kind  and  loving,  and  every  hand 
eagerly  sought  to  help  the  father  with  the  child.    To  every 
man  there  seemed  to  come  a  joyous  sense  of  sharing  the 
responsibility,   almost  the   possession   of  that  little   child. 
What  we  need  is  to  carry  this  consciousness  with  us  every- 
where, not  merely  for  the  child  that  unexpectedly  comes 
into  the  Pullman  where  we  are,  but  for  the  child  that  goes 
regularly,  all  too  regularly,  and  in  all  too  great  numbers 
to  the  factory,  the  mine,  and  the  field. 


THE  CHILD  AND  HEREDITY  277 

In  our  work  for  child  welfare  let  us  avoid  and  refute 
the  false  philosophy  with  its  consequent  discouragement  of 
all  reform,  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  a  "necessary  evil," 
remembering,  as  another  puts  it,  that  if  it  is  necessary  it 
is  not  an  evil,  and  if  it  is  evil  it  is  not  necessary. 

Return  to  your  homes  determined  to  make  a  closer 
acquaintance  with  politics.  Remember  that  politics  con- 
trols or  conceals  human  welfare  in  a  larger  measure  than 
anywhere  else  in  life.  Bear  in  mind,  when  we  deplore  cor- 
rupt politics  and  bad  government,  that  the  government  of 
eveiy  city,  no  matter  how  bad,  is  as  good  as  the  people 
deserve.  "The  indifference  of  the  good  is  the  opportunity 
of  the  bad,"  and  the  political  boss  who  barters  the  welfare 
of  child-life  for  preferment  or  for  money  is  at  least  more 
honest  in  being  open  in  his  profession  than  the  respectable 
church  member  whose  indifference  makes  the  political  boss 
possible.  Carry  with  you  the  wholesome  verdict  of  the  wise 
colored  preacher  who  was  asked  his  opinion  of  the  doctrine 
of  election :  "I  ain't  very  lamed  in  de  Scriptures,  and  I  ain't 
never  studied  no  theology,  but  de  doctrine  of  election  is  as 
clar  as  daylight  to  me.  It's  jes  like  dis:  de  Lord  is  votin' 
for  you,  de  Devil  is  votin'  agin  you ;  ivhichever  way  you  vote 
de  'lection  goes." 

With  aH  my  soul  I  plead  with  you  who  go  back  into 
church  life  and  membership  to  do  some  missionary  work 
in  your  Sunday  schools,  to  extend  their  studies,  their  sym- 
pathies, their  interest,  their  consciousness  of  responsibility 
beyond  the  class  room,  the  parish,  and  the  denomination  into 
the  alleys,  the  motion-picture  theaters,  and  the  joyless  lives 
of  overworked  and  underfed  children.  Seek  to  make  your 
Sunday  school  and  your  church  what  Christ  meant  that  his 
kingdom  should  be — not  a  separate  fold  to  shelter  saved 
souls,  but  an  arsenal  to  furnish  the  implements  of  service 
to  humanity — a  force  which  only  finds  itself  in  losing  itself. 

We  can  do  this  and  all  else  that  I  have  suggested  and 
much  more,  if  we  ivill.  It  is  the  ivill  to  do  that  is  the  great 
need  of  the  average  church  and  the  typical  church  member 
to-day.  If  one-tenth  of  the  knowledge  we  have,  one-tenth 
of  the  opportunity  we  face,  and  one-tenth  of  the  people  who 


278  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

are  at  heart  ready  to  serve  were  organized  and  led  to  do 
the  things  that  can  be  done  now  without  compromise  and 
without  delay,  we  should  shortly  see  the  day  when  it  would 
be  no  longer  necessary  to  realize  that  the  words  of  Mrs. 
Browning  are  as  true  to-day  and  in  America  as  they  were 
in  her  time  and  in  our  own  nation : 

"The  young  lambs  are  bleating  in  the  meadows; 
The  young  birds  are  chirping  in  the  nest; 
The  young  fawns  are  playing  with  the  shadows; 
The  young  flowers  are  blowing  toward  the  west. 

"But  the  young,  young  children,  O  my  brothers! 
They  are  weeping  bitterly. 
They  are  weeping  in  the  playtime  of  the  others 
In  the  country  of  the  free." 


VII.    LIFE  MORE  ABUNDANT  FOR  ALL 


The  New  Era 

The  Abolition  of  Poverty 

The  Value  of  the  Social  Worker  to  the  Community 

at  Large 
Work  for  the  Handicapped 
Policemen  as  Welfare  Workers 


THE  NEW  ERA 

BY  SARAH  KNOWLES  BOLTON 

It  is  coming!  it  is  coming"!  The  day  is  just  a-dawning 

When  man  shall  be  to  fellow-man  a  helper  and  a 

brother ; 

When  the  mansion,  with  its  gilded  hall,  its  tower  and 

arch  and  awning. 

Shall  be  to  hovel  desolate  a  kind  and  foster-mother. 

When  the  men  who  work  for  wages  shall  not  toil  from 
morn  till  even. 
With  no  vision  of  the  sunlight,  nor  flowers,  nor 
birds  a-singing; 
When  the  men  who  hire  the  workers,  blest  with  all 
the  gifts  of  heaven, 
Shall  the  golden  rule  remember,  its  glad  millen- 
nium bringing. 

The  time  is  coming  when  the  man  who  cares  not  for 
another 
Shall  be  accounted  as  a  stain  upon  a  fair  creation ; 
Who  lives  to  fill  his  coffers  full,  his  better  self  to 
smother. 
As  blight  and  mildew  on  the  fame  and  glory  of  a 
nation. 

Tho  hours  are  growing  shorter  for  the  millions  who 
are  toiling. 
And  the  homes  are  growing  better  for  the  millions 
who  are  yet  to  be ; 
And  the  poor  shall  learn  the  lesson,  how  that  waste 
and  sin  are  spoiling 
The  fairest  and  the  finest  of  a  grand  humanity. 

It  is  coming!  it  is  coming!  and  men's  thoughts  are 
growing  deeper; 
They  are  giving  of  their  millions  as  they  never 
gave  before; 
They  are  learning  the  new  gospel,  man  must  be  his 
brother's  keeper, 
And  right,  not  might,  shall  triumph,  and  the  selfish 
rule  no  more. 


THE  ABOLITION  OF  POVERTY 
RABBI   RUDOLPH    I.    COFFEE,   PH.D.,   CHICAGO,   ILL. 

Popular  views,  which  have  been  held  for  centuries,  give 
way  slowly.  Most  people  believe  that  poverty  is  a  condi- 
tion which  can  never  be  overcome.  They  accept  it  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  offer  charity  to  alleviate  the  suffering 
of  poor  people. 

We  believe  that  poverty  is  a  disgrace  to  a  civilized  na- 
tion. In  the  past,  people  sought  to  mitigate  poverty  by 
doling  out  alms  in  the  name  of  charity.  In  truth,  this  word 
"charity"  has  stopped  the  hands  of  the  clock  of  progress 
more  than  a  thousand  years.  It  has  done  positive  harm, 
more  than  almost  any  other  word  in  the  dictionary. 

The  Old  Testament  knows  nothing  of  "charity."  The 
word  is  not  even  found  within  its  pages.  Neither  is  its  use 
in  the  New  Testament  at  all  that  with  which  we  have  in- 
vested it.  True,  we  read  in  Deuteronomy  xv.  11:  "For  the 
needy  shall  not  cease  out  of  the  land."  This  merely  meant 
that  people  whose  ancestors  had  been  slaves  for  centuries 
would  not  become  independent  and  self-supporting  in  one 
generation.  Therefore,  Moses  urged  Israel  to  be  kind,  gen- 
erous, open-hearted  to  the  weak  and  the  needy.  That  Moses 
so  thought,  is  plain  from  another  verse  in  the  same  chapter, 
where  we  read,  "IF  there  be  among  you  a  poor  man"  (v.  7) . 
Moses  did  not  believe  in  poverty.  There  would  be  none  if 
righteousness  and  justice  ruled  the  nation. 

What  did  Moses  propose,  if  not  charity?  His  whole  idea 
was  one  of  justice.  The  prophets  echoed  and  reechoed 
the  thought  that  "justice,  only  justice  shalt  thou  pursue." 
In  our  day  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  lawgiver  is  again  being 
recognized,  and  it  is  said  that  "the  greatest  discovery  of  the 
twentieth  century  is  the  rediscovery  of  the  Old  Testament." 
In  the  spirit  of  justice  we  shall  overcome  poverty  and  rele- 
gate it  to  the  past  with  feudalism  and  slavery. 

The  abolition  of  poverty  presupposes  the  right  of  every 
person  to  be  well  born.  This  means  that  the  unfit  may  not 
propagate  their  kind.     It  implies  the  acceptance  of  the 


282  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

broad  fundamentals  of  Eugenics.  It  accepts  the  general 
thesis  of  birth  control.  Before  poverty  can  be  abolished, 
the  Jukes,  Kallikaks,  and  Ishmaels  must  leave  no  succes- 
sors. We  argue  for  quality  in  the  next  generation,  not 
quantity.  If  there  be  a  sincerely  devout  friend  who  believes 
this  is  contrary  to  the  Bible  in  its  command  that  we  must 
"multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,"  I  ask.  What  religion 
teaches  that  we  should  multiply  and  fill  the  earth  with  idiots, 
imbeciles,  and  blind  babies?  How  are  we  creating  man  in 
the  image  of  God  when  the  army  of  insane,  epileptic,  and 
other  incurables  steadily  increases?  Before  we  can  abolish 
poverty,  we  must  absolutely  abolish  this  sinful  waste  of 
human  lives. 

Poverty  will  continue  as  long  as  we  tolerate  warfare. 
How  a  sincere  and  devout  believer  in  the  Bible  can  advocate 
war,  passes  comprehension.  Is  not  Jesus  called  the  "Prince 
of  Peace"?  A  great  German  critic  has  said  that  the  finest 
expression  in  the  world's  literature  is  the  Messianic  dream 
of  Micah.  Its  sublimest  utterance  is,  "Nation  shall  no  longer 
war  against  nation."  War  spells  waste,  and  waste  mothers 
poverty.  When  nations  cease  wholesale  murder,  the  second 
thought  of  Micah  will  follow,  "They  shall  dwell  every  man 
under  his  own  vine  and  fig  tree."  When  shall  we  abolish 
poverty?  When  every  man  will  own  his  own  home;  when 
we  shall  be  free  economically  and  live  independently. 

Through  government  aid,  there  must  be  employment 
agencies  throughout  the  country,  so  that  no  man  desiring 
work  shall  walk  around  empty-handed.  This  willingness  to 
work  presupposes  the  ability  to  work.  The  public  schools 
in  America  fail,  in  their  full  duty  to  American  citizenship, 
unless  they 'train  their  pupils,  not  so  much  in  the  dead 
languages,  but  to  take  their  proper  places  in  the  industrial 
life  of  to-day.  A  pupil  should  not  receive  his  diploma  be- 
cause he  has  passed  through  eight  or  nine  years  of  school- 
ing and  is  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  That  gradua- 
tion certificate  should  be  withheld  until  the  pupils  are  so 
trained  that  they  are  able  to  earn  their  own  living.  How- 
ever we  may  interpret  the  Garden  of  Eden  story,  God  surely 


THE  ABOLITION   OF  POVERTY  283 

intended  every  man  to  dwell  in  a  Garden  of  Eden.  We 
must  create  a  public  opinion  to  fight  unceasingly  to  make 
every  city  a  Garden  of  Eden,  clean,  healthy,  and  free  from 
disease.  Figures  show  that  over  six  hundred  thousand  per- 
sons whose  deaths  could  be  prevented  will  pass  away  this 
year.  What  a  shocking  economic  loss,  more  than  a  bil- 
lion dollars  yearly!  What  a  terrible  contribution  to  pov- 
erty !  Hitherto  we  blamed  God  for  the  plague  and  the  pes- 
tilence; now  we  know  they  can  be  prevented  by  man.  To- 
day we  place  our  medical  experts  on  duty  at  the  harbor  of 
New  Orleans.  Our  sanitary  engineers  clean  Panama  of  its 
malaria  and  drive  out  the  mosquito  before  our  workmen 
commence  to  dig  the  canal.  We  shall  overcome  poverty 
just  as  quickly  as  we  are  educated  to  blame  man,  and  not 
God,  for  the  terrible  catastrophes  which  issue  in  such  ap- 
palling loss  of  life.  Whether  it  be  the  Johnstown  flood,  the 
sinking  of  a  Titanic  or  Lusitania,  the  overflow  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  or  the  Eastland  disaster,  all  were  man-made  dis- 
asters. Every  one  was  preventable  and  never  should  have 
happened. 

Given  the  fundamental  conception  that  life  is  sacred, 
that  every  baby  shall  be  brought  into  the  world  with  a 
healthy  heritage,  that  every  child  needs  proper  schooling, 
that  every  man  and  woman  desiring  work  should  obtain  it, 
and  poverty  will  be  considerably  lessened  on  earth.  Our 
great  problem  is  to  create  public  opinion  and  make  the  start. 

Two  stupendous  conflicts  are  now  raging.  The  one  is  in 
Europe  —  brother  is  fighting  brother,  governments  are 
spending  millions  in  murderous  warfare,  and  the  hero  is 
he  who  can  invent  some  still  more  deadly  man-killing  instru- 
ment. Gazing  into  the  future  with  vision,  I  see  another  con- 
flict raging — brother  is  fighting  with  brother  to  better  the 
world.  Men  are  striving  to  uplift  and  not  to  kill  down  their 
neighbors.  This  warfare  is  a  silent  one.  The  laboratory 
prolongs  life  by  combating  the  germs  of  disease  and  dis- 
covering the  secrets  of  God's  natural  laws.  To  this  army 
we  pledge  our  allegiance.  We  want  to  fight — not  to  kill  our 
fellow-man  for  the  glory  of  God,  but  more  truly  to  honor 


284  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

God  through  spreading;  happiness  and  joy  among  his  chil- 
dren. May  America  be  the  great  recruiting  ground  in 
which  this  Messianic  army  shall  be  organized!  God  grant 
us  the  privilege  of  contributing  something,  however  small, 
to  this  great  warfare,  which  will  only  cease  when  disease 
shall  have  been  swept  away,  war  overcome,  sin  blotted  out, 
and  poverty  banished  from  civilization. 


THE  VALUE  OF  THE  SOCIAL  WORKER  TO  THE 
COMMUNITY  AT  LARGE 

CHARLES  H.  PATTERSON,  SECRETARY  CHARITY  ORGANIZATION, 

NEW  ORLEANS 

One  of  the  achievements  of  which  we  are  proudest  here 
in  the  widespread  delta  of  the  Mississippi  is  our  reclama- 
tion work.  And  you  all  know  what  it  means.  Not  only  the 
draining  of  the  swamps,  the  clearing  of  the  snake-infested 
jungle,  the  wiping  out  of  plague-bearing  insects,  the  re- 
moval of  a  constant  menace  and  mischief  from  our  great 
river  valley ;  but,  more  than  all  this,  our  drainage  systems 
give  us  in  the  place  of  noxious  swamps  such  fertile  soils  as 
the  ripening  sunshine  never  fails  and  no  drought  can  ever 
parch.  Our  reclamation  work,  in  the  place  of  the  worth- 
less jungle,  gives  us  orange  groves  and  cornfields  and  cat- 
tle pastures  and  truck  gardens  such  as  were  never  known. 

In  this  creative  worth  of  our  reclamation  work,  I  find 
a  parable  of  our  social  service.  The  social  worker  must,  to 
begin  with,  be  a  rescuer.  But  he  doesn't  end  with  that. 
Whether  as  a  visitor  of  a  charity  organization,  a  nurse  of 
the  Anti-Tuberculosis  League  or  of  the  Child's  Welfare 
Association,  whether  as  an  agent  of  the  Travelers'  Aid  So- 
ciety, a  probation  officer  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  an  official 
of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  a 
settlement  worker,  or  what  not,  every  effort  of  his  curative 
work  done  in  behalf  of  some  distressed  or  afflicted  person 
or  family  has  the  same  creative  result  as  we  find  in  our 
delta  reclamation:  it  upbuilds  and  enriches  as  well  as  res- 


VALUE  OF  SOCIAL  WORKER  TO  COMMUNITY  AT  LARGE       285 

cues.  The  visitor  of  the  charity  organization  goes  out  into 
the  morass  of  destitution  to  rescue  the  submerged ;  and, 
like  one  of  our  reclamation  engineers,  she  makes  her  skilled 
survey,  she  measures  accurately  the  depths  of  distress  she 
has  to  deal  with,  she  investigates  the  conditions  as  they 
are,  and  then  applies  the  necessary  remedies.  If  there  is 
sickness  in  the  family,  she  immediately  calls  the  doctor  and 
thus  prevents  the  possible  spread  of  contagion.  While  she 
prevents  children  under  the  legal  age  from  working  and 
thus  violating  the  child  labor  laws,  she  insists  upon  those 
of  school  age  attending  school.  She  reconciles  differences 
between  husband  and  wife.  She  converts  the  thief  and  the 
crook.  She  sees  that  unsanitary  premises  are,  as  far  as 
possible,  made  wholesome.  She  does  her  best  to  prevent 
or  cure  indolence  and  jobless  idleness  and  shiftlessness  by 
securing  suitable  employment  for  the  unemployed,  and  then 
sees  to  it  that  they  go  to  work.  She  endeavors  with  the 
help  of  her  organization  to  lessen  the  ravages  of  the  great 
white  plague,  and  to  check  its  possible  spread  through 
infection  from  the  person  afflicted.  The  air  and  sunshine 
she  gets  admitted  into  shut-in  homes  are  as  invigorating  to 
the  well  as  they  are  healing  to  the  sick.  Through  her  con- 
stant efforts  she  helps  to  reduce  infant  mortality  and  give 
the  little  ones  a  vigorous  start  in  life.  The  agent  of  the 
Travelers'  Aid  Society  is  continually  giving  her  protection 
to  young  women  who  arrive  in  our  city,  endangered  by  the 
temptations  and  allurements  of  the  cabarets  and  the  glare 
of  lights  in  the  restricted  district,  and  she  sets  them  on  the 
path  of  safety  and  happiness.  The  officers  of  the  juvenile 
court  and  the  children's  society  are  eternally  vigilant  in 
their  protective  care  and  work  of  reformation  among 
juvenile  delinquents.  And  the  settlement  worker  is  ever- 
lastingly trying  to  better  the  social  and  domestic  conditions 
in  her  own  neighborhood.  Now  the  one  great  claim  I  want 
to  make  in  this  short  speech  of  mine  is  just  this:  That 
the  efficient  social  worker  in  doing  what  I  have  barely  out- 
lined, in  solving  the  problems  and  remedying  the  ill  condi- 
tions of  her  charges,  is  at  the  same  time  creating  good 
health  and  amassing   future  wealth   for   the   community. 


286  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Just  as  our  physical  reclamation  work  puts  fertility  and 
peace  and  prosperity  where  rotting  and  waste  and  parasitic 
plague  were  rife,  so  our  social  service,  by  overcoming  idle- 
ness, degeneracy,  and  parasitic  beggary,  not  only  insures 
the  general  public  from  endless  irritation  and  spoliation, 
but  induces  honest  effort  and  worthy  achievement  in  the 
place  of  blood-sucking  dependence.  Look  at  a  single  local 
illustration.  Last  year  the  charity  organization  of  this 
city  had  the  handling  of  the  relief  for  the  local  sufferers 
from  the  disastrous  storm  of  September  29.  Out  of  a  total 
of  1,852  groups  or  families  applying  for  relief,  556  were 
found  to  he  fraudulent — not  storm  sufferers  at  all. 
Tempted  into  graft  by  hearing  that  the  city  was  giving 
away  groceries  and  other  supplies  with  lavish  generosity, 
they  expected  to  get  a  finger  in  the  pie.  However,  owing  to 
the  efficiency  of  the  trained  social  workers  who  handled  this 
distribution,  and  their  ability  to  discriminate  between  the 
worthy  and  the  fraudulent,  not  only  was  several  thousand 
dollars  saved  to  relieve  the  real  and  pitiful  suffering 
caused  by  the  storm,  but  the  tendency  of  many  to  lapse 
from  self-support  and  self-respect  into  graft  and  pauper- 
ism was  averted.  And  this  is  but  one  instance  of  many. 
In  our  campaigns  against  false  appeals  for  charity,  against 
fraudulent  solicitors — such  as  we  have  in  women  begging 
money  to  "buy  wheel  chairs  for  their  crippled  children,"  or 
"to  send  their  consumptive  sons  to  Colorado,"  or  one-legged 
men  so  lively  in  collecting  funds  for  artificial  legs  they  will 
never  wear,  because  it  spoils  their  game,  or  pretended 
ladies  soliciting  money  for  non-existent  Homes  for  Blind 
Babies;  or  lead-pencil  fakirs  who  hate  to  sell  a  pencil,  and 
countless  other  frauds — few  realize  how  much  of  wasteful 
parasitic  life  is  not  alone  thus  checked,  but,  better  still,  is 
turned  back  to  usefulness  and  self-support.  Only  the  social 
worker  knows  our  reclamation  work  in  its  less  apparent 
and  yet  direct  and  most  beneficient  results.  And  if  you, 
welcome  guests  of  our  good  old  city,  can  only  get  the  oppor- 
tunity while  here  to  visit  some  of  our  great  delta  reclama- 
tion areas,  you  will  realize  what  it  means  to  change  the 
stagnant  swamp,  the  infested  air,  the  sunless  jungle  into 


WORK  FOR  THE  HANDICAPPED  287 

a  land  of  sunshine  and  breeze  and  fruitfulness  and  beauty. 
How  much  of  this  comes  into  the  experience  of  the  social 
worker  and  gives  him  inspiration,  you  in  the  service  of  our 
sacred  cause  already  know. 


WORK  FOR  THE  HANDICAPPED 

MISS  ELIZABETH  OILMAN,  BALTIMORE,   MD. 

Those  of  us  who  have  visited  free  dispensaries  and 
watched  the  continual  stream  of  people  passing  in  for  ad- 
vice and  out  again  with  a  bottle  of  medicine  can  easily 
realize  that  the  cure  can,  in  many  cases,  be  only  begun  by 
the  medical  care  received  by  many  visits  to  the  most  expert 
physicians  or  even  by  hospital  treatment.  This  has  been 
felt  so  strongly  by  the  medical  authorities  that  in  many 
hospitals  social  service  departments  have  been  established 
to  study  the  home  conditions  of  the  patient,  and  to  follow 
up  with  after-care  and  after-cure — trained  social  workers, 
and  volunteers  working  with  them,  visiting  the  patients 
in  their  homes  and  trying  to  find  out  whether  there  are  con- 
ditions unfavorable  to  recovery. 

There  are  many  such  unfavorable  conditions,  but  we 
are  only  studying  one — the  work  or  occupation  to  which 
the  patient  returns  after  treatment,  in  order  to  earn  his 
daily  bread,  and  often  that  of  a  family  dependent  upon 
him.  You  have  perhaps  heard  of  the  man  who  was  dis- 
missed as  cured,  but  told  not  to  carry  heavy  weights  and 
to  avoid  going  upstairs.  Soon  he  returned  to  his  physician 
in  very  bad  shape ;  but  when  upon  questioning  it  was  found 
that  he  had  returned  to  his  trade  of  hod  carrier,  his  condi- 
tion was  not  surprising.  Nor  would  the  possibilities  of 
continued  health  be  much  better  if  a  painter,  suffering 
from  lead-poisoning,  should  return  to  his  trade;  nor  for 
the  tubercular  woman  in  a  crowded,  unsanitary  room ;  nor 
for  others  numbered,  alas,  by  the  thousands  through  our 
broad  country,  whose  working  conditions  are  incompatible 
with  a  permanent  return  to  health  and  self-dependence. 


288  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Abroad  there  are  such  vast  numbers  of  men  who  have 
been  too  seriously  injured  in  the  war  to  return  either  to  the 
army  or  to  their  own  trades,  that  the  study  is  being  taken 
up  very  seriously  and  from  all  sides.  An  interesting  piece 
of  work  has  been  done  by  motion  picture  films  to  ascertain 
exactly  what  fingers  are  needed  to  run  various  machines, 
and  trade  schools  for  the  wounded  are  being  established. 
This  is  being  done  in  countries  suffering  from  the  great 
war;  but  it  behooves  us  just  as  truly,  if  not  on  such  a 
large  scale,  to  help  those  who  have  fallen  by  the  wayside 
in  the  great  army  of  industry. 

There  are  three  courses  that  may  be  followed  by  those 
dismissed  from  hospitals  or  dispensaries : 

1.  Return  to  old  employment,  causing  recurrence  of  old 
diseases  and  return  to  hospital.  This  may  be  repeated 
many  times  by  one  man.  Indeed,  it  is  on  the  records  of 
one  hospital  that  a  man  returned  there  nineteen  times,  only 
to  die  in  the  end.  Think  of  the  waste  of  that  man's 
strength  and  of  the  economic  efficiency  of  that  institution, 
which  at  the  same  expense  could  have  cured  twenty  men. 

2.  A  dismissed  patient  returns  to  his  home,  looks  in 
vain  for  a  position  suited  to  his  strength,  becomes  discour- 
aged and  gets  the  out-of-work  habit,  drops  into  depend- 
ency, if  not  into  mendicancy,  and  he  and  his  family  must 
be  supported  by  a  relief-giving  society — again  a  great  ex- 
pense to  the  charitable  public,  and  a  loss  to  citizenship. 

3.  The  third  possible  course  is  by  far  the  most  compli- 
cated and  difficult,  but  the  only  one  having  the  basis  of 
humanity  and  economic  efficiency.  It  is  to  give  the  patient 
vocational  guidance,  if  possible  by  a  trained  psychologist,  as 
to  what  employment  he  is  able  to  perform  with  his  phys- 
ical and  mental  make-up;  and  then  to  give  him  suitable 
training  for  this  work;  and,  lastly,  to  get  him  into  a  per- 
manent self-supporting  position  either  in  a  workshop  run 
on  a  business  basis  for  just  such  cases,  or,  if  it  proves  pos- 
sible, in  the  general  world  of  industry. 

This  is  indeed  a  very  difficult  and  complicated  problem, 
but  we  maintain  that  it  is  practicable  and  will  reward  the 


WORK  FOR  THE  HANDICAPPED  289 

efforts  of  physicians,  social  workers,  and  philanthropists  to 
an  almost  incredible  extent. 

The  only  work  of  this  kind  that  has  been  organized  for 
a  generation  is  that  for  the  blind,  and  therefore  we  natu- 
rally find  the  best  results  in  these  institutions.  Let  me  give 
you  one  or  two  facts  from  this  work  in  my  own  State  of 
Maryland:  From  the  School  for  the  Blind  70  per  cent  of 
the  graduates  are  self-supporting,  and  in  the  Workshop  for 
the  Blind,  organized  but  eight  years  ago,  the  treasurer's 
report  shows  that  in  the  last  two  years  over  $54,000  has 
been  paid  in  salaries  and  wages  to  170  blind  persons,  be- 
sides over  200  who  are  being  taught  in  their  own  homes. 

An  interesting  instance  of  self-support  is  that  of 
women  cured  in  sanatoria  for  the  tubercular  who  remain 
there  as  nurses.  In  hospitals  for  the  insane  the  handi- 
crafts reach  a  high  development — weaving,  basketry,  rug- 
making.  These  last  two  instances,  however,  are  for  work 
within  the  institutions,  while  my  plea  to-day  is  for  schools 
and  shops  for  dismissed  patients. 

Experiments  along  these  lines  are  being  made  in  every 
part  of  the  country  with  very  gratifying  success,  and  we 
can  find  the  best  summary  of  these  undertakings  in  a  small 
volume  called  "The  Work  of  Our  Hands,"  by  Dr.  H.  J. 
Hall,  of  Marblehead,  published  by  Moffat,  Yard  &  Co.  We 
long  for  an  appropriation  from  one  of  the  great  philan- 
thropic foundations  for  an  adequate  experiment;  but  until 
that  is  given  we  must  do  our  best  with  the  means  at  our 
command.  The  overhead  expenses  must  at  first  be  large 
for  salaries  of  trained  workers  and  purchase  of  equip- 
ment, and  the  work  must  in  each  case  be  suited  to  the 
capabilities,  both  mental  and  physical,  of  the  worker. 

In  Baltimore,  where  we  have  started  a  very  small 
experimental  workshop,  training  a  dozen  men,  cripples, 
cardiac,  nephritic,  and  nervous  patients,  to  make  toys,  nur- 
sery furniture,  and  decorating  flowerpots,  we  find  that  the 
majority  of  them  have  not  a  high  intellectual  efficiency. 
Out  of  the  thirteen  examined  by  the  Yerkes  point  scale 
tests,  ten  ranked  with  children  between  the  ages  of  eight 
and  a  half  and  thirteen  and  a  half.    This  was  due  in  most 

19 


290  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

cases  to  insufficient  schooling  and  lack  of  training.  This 
shows  another  difficulty  of  the  workshop,  but  it  is  only  by 
facing  difficulties  resolutely  that  we  can  gain  results  in 
such  problems;  so  I  have  not  hesitated  to  place  them 
before  you. 

The  encouragement  and  pleasure  in  the  work  comes 
from  the  appreciation  and  fine  cooperation  shown  by  the 
men  themselves,  and  the  consciousness  that  we  are  not  only 
helping  these  particular  people  who  sorely  need  our  help, 
but  that  we  are  "doing  our  bit"  in  the  great  work  of  pre- 
venting men  and  women  from  falling  into  the  pitiably  large 
number  of  dependents  on  public  and  private  bounty. 


POLICEMEN  AS  WELFARE  WORKERS 

D.   HIDEN  RAMSEY,  COMMISSIONER  OF  PUBLIC  SAFETY, 
ASHEVILLE,  N.  C. 

Ten  years  ago  the  policeman  was  commonly  regarded 
as  a  legalized  bully  whose  sole  ambition  in  life  was  to  vaunt 
the  authority  which  an  undiscerning  government  reposed 
in  him,  a  peculiarly  bulky  and  uniformed  shape  of  neces- 
sary evil  who  came  into  power  by  virtue  of  his  party  serv- 
ices. Unfortunately  he  was  essential  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  knock-down  laws  of  society,  and  as  such  was  endured. 

To-day  no  truer  index  of  the  municipal  progress  of  this 
country  can  be  found  than  in  the  gradual  enlargement  of 
police  duties  to  include  labors  which  were  formerly  re- 
garded as  absolutely  foreign  to  the  accustomed  routine  of 
the  policeman's  daily  life. 

Under  the  most  advanced  system  for  the  selection  of 
the  personnel  of  a  municipal  police  department  the  officer 
must  satisfy  the  most  rigid  physical  requirements ;  he  must 
be  of  irreproachable  character;  he  must  be  of  courteous 
address ;  he  must  be  mentally  alert  and  must  possess  infinite 
courage  and  judgment.  His  primary  duties  are  to  preserve 
the  peace,  to  enforce  the  law,  to  protect  life  and  property, 
to  prevent  and  detect  crime,  and  to  arrest  violators  of  the 


POLICEMEN  AS  WELFARE  WORKERS  291 

law.  He  is  vested  with  more  power  than  any  other  official 
of  our  city  government,  for  in  a  sense  he  embodies  the 
sovereignty  of  this  government.  There  is  more  salary  and 
more  dignity  attaching  to  other  offices.  But  who  has  such 
summary  control  over  the  liberties  of  the  citizens?  There 
is  romance  to  his  work,  for  it  often  carries, him  into  danger 
as  he  stands  as  the  buffer  between  the  law-abiding  citizen 
and  the  criminal  element,  between  the  city  and  those  things 
th^t  are  antagonizing  the  peace  and  health  of  the  city. 

Some  one  has  defined  an  ambassador  as  being  a  glorified 
messenger  boy,  conveying  the  greetings  of  his  nation  to 
another  nation  and,  in  a  sense,  reflecting  in  his  official 
demeanor  the  majesty  of  his  country.  And  we  might  with 
propriety  refer  to  the  policeman  as  being,  in  a  way,  the 
glorified  messenger  of  his  city,  carrying  into  the  lives  of 
the  great  body  of  citizens  the  mandates  and  ideals  of  his 
government.  There  is  a  significance  to  his  uniform  and 
to  his  badge  and  to  his  military  bearing;  there  is  a  mean- 
ing to  the  pomp  and  circumstance  that  surround  him  in 
his  daily  life.  No  government,  however  just  and  enlight- 
ened, can  persist  long  unless  in  emergencies  it  can  resort 
to  a  judicious  exercise  of  force  in  compelling  obedience  to 
the  obligation  which  it  imposes  upon  its  members.  The 
policeman  is  the  instrument  of  force  that  the  city  employs 
in  securing  adherence  to  its  laws.  Ofttimes  it  is  necessary 
for  him  to  resort  to  violence  in  preserving  the  public  peace, 
and  to  protect  him  in  such  crises  we  clothe  him  with  great 
power  and  greater  responsibility. 

But  under  the  new  dispensation  the  municipal  police- 
man is  something  more  than  a  mere  proponent  of  force 
who  is  employed  to  do  the  scavenger  work  of  organized 
society.  We  are  coming  to  look  upon  him  as  the  field  agent 
of  that  gentler,  more  idealistic  thought  which  is  now  domi- 
nating the  policies  of  all  progressive  cities.  While  he  still 
plays  his  role  as  the  disciplinarian  of  a  delinquent  and  an 
immoral  people,  he  is  also  their  teacher.  In  his  daily 
rounds,  which  carry  him  into  all  the  neighborhoods  of  a 
crowded  city,  he  sees  much  that  goes  on  under  the  clean, 


292  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

lawful  exterior  of  his  community ;  he  sees  much  of  the 
seamy  side  of  municipal  life.  And  the  thoughtful  cities  are 
teaching  him  to  use  this  knowledge  in  serving  all  the  pur- 
poses of  his  government.  We  have  now  introduced  into 
our  police  administration  that  same  principle  of  economy 
of  time  and  space  and  equipment  which  has  brought  such 
success  to  the  Gary  system  of  public  schools.  The  American 
policeman  is  gradually  developing  into  what  the  Continen- 
tal policeman  has  been  these  many  years — something  more 
serviceable  than  a  mere  arresting  officer.  Our  cities  are 
now  administering  their  police  departments  under  the  con- 
viction that  the  officer  should  use  his  knowledge  and  time 
in  assisting  all  of  the  many  activities  of  his  government. 

This  enlargement  of  police  duties  has  probably  evi- 
denced itself  more  dramatically  in  the  realm  of  health  and 
sanitation.  This  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  policeman 
is  merely  reflecting  in  his  official  conduct  the  temper  of  the 
times,  which  is  dem.anding  greater  emphasis  on  the  protec- 
tion of  the  public  health.  It  also  springs  from  the  logic  of 
the  circumstances. 

In  the  first  place,  the  health  administration  of  a  city 
must  be  regarded  as  being  peculiarly  a  police  function  when 
the  actual  details  of  inspection  and  remedial  action  are  con- 
sidered. Truly  enough  there  must  be  the  technical  knowl- 
edge behind  it  all,  determining  the  policies  and  directing 
the  lines  along  which  definite  action  must  be  taken.  This 
technical  knowledge  must  be  written  into  the  prohibitions 
of  legislation.  But  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  health 
laws  the  outward  appearance  of  force  is  frequently  neces- 
sary. Too  often  men  must  be  convinced  against  their  own 
will  and  judgment  that  a  condition  which  they  harbor  is 
dangerous  to  the  health  of  themselves  and  of  the  great 
body  of  people. 

It  is  a  peculiar  circumstance  when  we  are  forced  to  tax 
ourselves  to  protect  our  lives  and  property  against  our  own 
ignorance  and  obstinacy  and  dereliction.  The  average 
urban  resident  may  sneer  at  much  of  the  mock  dignity  of 
the  policeman's  life,  but  for  all  this  he  respects  his  au- 


POLICEMEN  AS  WELFARE  WORKERS  293 

thority.  He  looks  upon  his  police  officer  rather  much  in 
the  same  manner  that  a  witty  Hindoo  regarded  his  idol- 
god  :  "You  are  ugly,  but  you  are  powerful,  therefore  I  bow 
to  you."  The  same  power  which  we  delegate  to  our  police- 
men is  the  power  which  is  ordinarily  necessary  to  secure 
obedience  to  all  the  laws  enacted  for  the  preservation  of 
health. 

The  term  "public  health"  has  a  deeper  content  now  than 
at  any  other  previous  time.  We  have  reached  the  stage 
when  willful  disobedience  of  the  laws  designed  to  guard 
the  public  health  assumes  a  criminal  character.  This  view 
of  the  situation  is  brought  home  to  us  with  peculiar  force 
by  the  recent  newspaper  story  which  reported  how  an 
infamous  murderer  took  the  life  of  his  victim  by  inoculat- 
ing him  with  the  germs  of  a  dangerous  disease.  A  man 
who  consciously  endangers  the  health  of  others  is  just  as 
culpable  as  a  person  who  handles  a  deadly  weapon  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  imperil  human  lives.  This  evolution  is 
impressing  upon  us  more  forcibly  the  police  character  of 
public  health  administration. 

For  another  reason,  it  is  peculiarly  appropriate  that  the 
police  officer  should  be  the  apostle  of  health.  Before  he  can 
become  eligible  for  appointment,  he  must  pass  a  physical 
examination  sufficiently  strict  to  satisfy  the  authorities  that 
he  is  able  to  endure  the  most  arduous  labors.  We  tell  him 
that  he  can  best  serve  us  by  keeping  his  body  clean  and 
healthy.  Of  all  the  city  employees,  we  exact  a  greater  meas- 
ure of  personal  health  from  him.  Why  not  deputize  him  to 
carry  this  same  gospel  into  the  homes  of  the  hundreds  of 
citizens  whom  he  must  see  every  day  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties?  No  public  official  meets  a  larger  number  of 
people  in  their  intimate  daily  life ;  no  public  official  has  the 
same  opportunities  to  observe  the  conditions  that  environ 
the  bulk  of  the  people  in  their  home  surroundings. 

The  time  is  fast  coming  in  police  administration  when 
we  will  judge  the  efficiency  of  an  officer,  not  by  the  number 
of  arrests  that  he  makes,  but  rather  by  his  ability  to  keep 
his  beat  free  from  crime  and  disease  and  the  evil  effects, 


294  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

generally,  of  poverty  and  ignorance.  He  will  still  retain  his 
character  as  an  instrument  of  preparedness  against  crime, 
but  we  will  also  use  him  as  an  instrument  of  preparedness 
against  disease  which  is  most  often  the  mother  of  crime. 
He  will  travel  his  rounds  with  eyes  open  for  all  conditions 
that  may  be  hostile  to  any  of  the  varied  purposes  of  a  city 
government.  And  in  his  attitude  toward  the  people,  in  the 
warnings  which  he  must  issue  and  in  the  advice  which  he 
must  give,  he  will  be  the  friend  rather  than  the  enemy  of 
the  people  whom  he  is  privileged  to  serve. 

The  health  program  of  our  municipalities  is  indeed  a 
courageous  undertaking.  Every  city  should  pledge  itself 
to  the  solemn  determination  that  public  health  is  a  public 
asset  and  should  obligate  itself  to  a  full  exercise  of  its  gov- 
ernmental powders  in  checking  the  spread  of  disease  and 
in  making  healthy  and  wholesome  the  environment  of  the 
city-dwelling  man.  It  is  a  proud  boast  and  it  demands  a 
faith  of  triple  brass  to  bring  its  achievement.  There  is 
such  a  liberal  portion  of  communism  to  our  city  life  and 
manners.  In  a  city  we  are  always  deriving  something  from 
the  intimate  contact  with  our  fellows — ideas  and  strength 
of  character  and  the  popular  viewpoint  and  diseases.  It  is 
a  great  democratic  jumble  with  the  eternal  congestion  and 
the  constant  battling  for  the  boon  of  elbowroom.  Every 
good  movement  lifts  the  whole  line,  while  every  bad  cause 
drags  down  the  whole  chain  of  collective  prosperity  and 
health.  In  the  same  manner  that  a  great  ideal  will  quickly 
permeate  the  peoples  of  a  city,  so  will  an  unhealthy  condi- 
tion or  a  contagious  disease  quickly  broaden  its  circle  of 
infection  unless  summarily  checked.  Congestion  creates  the 
supreme  problem  of  public  health. 

Of  all  the  governmental  agencies,  I  know  of  none  that 
can  serve  the  cause  more  efficiently  and  more  economically 
than  the  police  departments  of  our  cities.  It  implies  the 
employment  of  no  additional  officials;  it  means  no  extra 
outlay  of  money.  An  enlargement  of  police  duties  to  include 
health  and  sanitation  inspection  is  all  that  is  necessary. 


VIII.  TEMPERANCE  FOR  THE  SELF- 
GOVERNED 


The  Great  Enemy  of  Labor 
Alcohol's  Health  Toll 

Sociological  Aspects  of  the  Alcoholic  Problem 
Some  Phases  of  the  World-Wide  Prohibition  Move- 
ment and  Its  Relation  to  Christian  Citizenship 


THE  GREAT  ENEMY  OF  LABOR 


DR.  T.  DEWITT  TALMAGE 


Gather  up  the  money  that  the  working  classes 
have  spent  for  rum  during  the  last  thirty  years,  and 
I  will  build  for  every  workingman  a  house,  lay  out 
for  him  a  gardefi,  clothe  his  sons  in  broadcloth  and 
his  daughters  in  silks,  stand  at  his  front  door  a 
prancing  span  of  sorrels  or  bays,  and  secure  him  a 
policy  of  life  insurance  so  that  the  present  home 
may  be  well  maintained  after  he  is  dead.  The  most 
persistent,  most  overpowering  enemy  of  the  work- 
ing classes  is  intoxicating  liquor.  It  is  the  anarchist 
of  the  centuries,  and  has  boycotted  and  is  now  boy- 
cotting the  body  and  mind  and  soul  of  American 
labor.  It  annually  swindles  industry  out  of  a  large 
percentage  of  its  earnings.  It  holds  out  its  blasting 
solicitations  to  the  mechanic  or  operative  on  his 
way  to  work,  at  the  noon  spell,  and  on  his  way  home 
at  eventide.  On  Saturday,  when  the  wages  are  paid, 
it  snatches  a  large  part  of  the  money  that  might 
come  to  the  family  and  sacrifices  it  among  the  saloon 
keepers. 

This  evil  is  pouring  its  vitriolic  and  damnable 
liquors  down  the  throats  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  laborers,  and  while  the  ordinary  strikes  are  ruin- 
ous both  to  employers  and  employees,  I  proclaim  a 
universal  strike  against  strong  drink,  which  strike, 
if  kept  up,  will  be  the  relief  of  the  working  classes 
and  the  salvation  of  the  nation.  I  will  undertake 
to  say  that  there  is  not  a  healthy  laborer  in  the 
United  States,  who,  within  the  next  twenty  years, 
if  he  will  refuse  all  intoxicating  beverages  and  be 
saving,  may  not  become  a  capitalist  on  a  small  scale. 


ALCOHOL'S  HEALTH  TOLL 

CAROLYN  GEISEL,  M.D,,  MEMBER  ADVISORY  COMMITTEE  ON  PUB- 
LIC HEALTH,  NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  WOMEN'S 
CLUBS,  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH. 

The  American  home  is  not  the  corner  stone  of  the  gov- 
ernment: it  is  the  whole  blessed  foundation.  If  then  the 
American  home  is  threatened  with  destruction  because  the 
American  man  is  not  doing  his  share,  something  more  is 
happening — the  foundations  of  the  government  itself  are 
being  broken  up,  and  the  danger  that  faces  us  is  danger  of 
a  very  real  sort.  A  nation  or  a  country  is  not  great  because 
of  its  great  mines,  minerals,  or  money.  It  is  great  only 
because  it  has  great  sons ;  and  if  this  American  government 
is  ever  to  go  farther  in  the  years  that  are  to  come,  and  pre- 
serve peace  for  the  world,  it  will  be  because  the  American 
home  has  been  preserved,  a  safe  place  for  the  American 
man  to  grow  up  to  the  splendor  of  his  mature  manhood. 

Last  year,  in  the  United  States,  we  lost  fifty-six  thousand 
more  middle-aged  men  than  ever  before  in  history.  These 
fifty-six  thousand  men  died  of  three  diseases,  as  follows: 
Bright's  disease — and  sixty-two  per  cent  of  Bright's  dis- 
ease is  caused  by  alcohol;  apoplexy — and  forty  per  cent  of 
apoplexy  is  caused  by  alcohol ;  heart  disease — now  concern- 
ing heart  disease  there  is  difference  of  opinion,  as  some  au- 
thorities say  forty  per  cent,  while  others  claim  as  high  as 
sixty  per  cent  is  caused  by  alcohol.  Yet  this  middle-aged 
man  is  the  man  worth  while,  for  he  is  the  man  who  must 
carry  all  the  real  burdens  of  our  civic  and  national  life. 
You  do  not  want  a  doctor  just  out  of  college,  but  rather  a 
man  with  experience  added  to  his  education. 

Not  only  does  alcohol  produce  disease  in  the  body,  but  it 
lowers  the  body's  efficiency  even  when  taken  in  very  small 
doses.  Professor  Kraepelin,  of  Munich,  has  invented  an 
ingenious  instrument  for  testing  human  efficiency.  With  it 
he  has  proved  that  one  single  glass  of  beer  lowers  efficiency 
by  seven  per  cent ;  that  two  drinks  of  whisky  rob  a  man  of 
twenty-three  per  cent  of  his  normal  power,  leaving  him  only 


298  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

seventy-seven  per  cent  himself,  making  him  about  three- 
fourths  of  a  man.  The  Czar  of  all  the  Russians  knew  the 
truth  of  Kraepelin's  teaching  when  he  said  to  his  army, 
"You  are  only  three-fourths  men.  We  were  whipped  once 
by  sober  little  Japan.  You  must  be  whole  men  to  fight  the 
Germans,  and  vodka  must  go!"  And  my  friend  Slabinski 
said  he  could  see  the  difference  in  the  peasantry  in  two 
weeks.  Does  prohibition  increase  national  efficiency?  Why, 
in  all  her  drunken  life  Russia  had  never  saved  more  than 
fifteen  millions  a  year;  but  when  prohibition  went  into 
effect  her  manhood  was  so  much  more  efficient  that  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  devastating  war  Russia  ever  had  any  part 
in  she  was  able  in  one  month  to  save  thirty  millions — twice 
as  much  in  one  month  when  she  was  sober  as  in  one  whole 
year  when  she  was  drunk!  If  Russia  needed  four-fourths 
men  to  carry  on  the  war  with  Germany,  then,  my  America, 
what  part  of  manhood  is  necessary  to  preserve  peace  in  this 
old  United  States  of  ours?  If  we  need  four-fourths  men  to 
go  to  the  forefront  of  battle,  what  do  we  need  for  the  heroic 
battles  of  home  and  peace? 

We  were  deceived  for  a  long  time  by  the  teaching  that 
alcohol  was  necessary  as  medicine.  I  am  proud  of  my  pro- 
fession, for  we  have  proved  that  alcohol  is  not  necessary  as 
medicine,  has  no  value  as  food,  and  is  a  habit-forming  drug. 
The  medical  institution  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be 
connected  is  forty-eight  years  old.  It  has  an  international 
reputation  for  curing  incurables.  This  institution  now  treats 
a  daily  average  of  one  thousand  patients.  In  forty-eight 
years  it  has  never  used  one  single  ounce  of  alcohol  as  medi- 
cine. Why  not?  Because  it  is  not  necessary  and  does  more 
harm  than  good. 

Not  long  ago  the  Interstate  Medical  Society  met  in  this 
Southland,  and  that  great  body  of  medical  men,  in  council 
assembled,  passed  a  resolution,  every  member  signing  it,  to 
the  effect  that  alcohol  is  not  necessary  as  a  medicine,  that  it 
is  harmful  to  the  human  body,  and  that  therefore  we,  the 
undersigned  medical  society,  will  not  use  it  in  our  practice. 
It  is  a  habit-forming  drug. 


ALCOHOL'S    HEALTH   TOLL  299 

Very  few  drunkards  go  to  a  saloon  for  the  first  drink ; 
they  get  a  taste  of  it  some  other  place,  and  then  another 
taste,  and  finally  they  do  not  care  much  where  they  get  it 
so  they  get  it.  The  worst  case  of  delirium  tremens  I  ever 
treated  was  a  Peruna  drunk.  Alcohol  is  a  habit-forming 
drug ;  and  whether  the  victim  gets  the  first  taste  at  a  social 
function  or  in  patent  medicine,  it  is  too  often  an  easy  way 
from  there  to  the  saloon. 

Turn  back  with  me  and  let  me  give  you  an  instance  out 
of  my  own  life — back  there  in  the  years  when  my  profession 
believed  in  that  falsehood  that  alcohol  is  necessary  as  a 
medicine.  We  were  taught  in  the  great  university  from 
which  I  graduated  to  use  alcohol  in  the  crisis  of  disease. 
Back  there  I  had  a  chum,  a  dainty  little  woman,  not  as  large 
as  I,  and  frail.  She  came  to  Kansas  City,  and  there  she 
married  and  became  the  mother  of  a  boy.  Her  husband 
was  a  Christian  lawyer,  superintendent  of  a  Sunday  school 
— we  called  him  the  coming  man.  The  community  was 
already  beginning  to  consult  him  on  important  things,  and 
he  was  being  talked  of  for  Governor.  It  was  then  that  he 
was  suddenly  stricken  with  typhoid  fever,  and  naturally  I 
was  called,  for  I  was  both  physician  and  friend.  I  was  there 
in  that  room  myself  with  a  bottle  of  so-called  "best"  brandy 
on  the  table,  when  the  twenty-first  day  came,  and  we  gave  it 
to  him.  Can  you  imagine  my  feeling  when  the  nurse  told 
me  that  he  had  reached  for  that  bottle  in  the  night?  Three 
weeks  after  I  dismissed  him  as  cured  he  came  home  in  a 
cab,  drunk.  That  was  repeated  again  and  again  and  again. 
Please  remember  that  he  was  a  Christian  gentleman,  headed 
for  the  governorship  of  his  State.  His  wife  walked  into 
my  office  one  morning.  She  had  her  boy  with  her,  and  she 
said:  "We  must  go.  George  has  threatened  to  kill  baby." 
She  did  go,  for  safety's  sake,  and  that  meant  a  divorce. 
Another  year  passed,  and  just  three  years  from  the  time  I 
dismissed  him  as  cured  of  his  fever  we  made  a  narrow  bed 
out  there  under  the  sunshine  and  drew  the  daisy-dotted 
coverlid  up  over  the  head  of  a  dead  defective.  I  killed,  even 
if  ignorantly,  that  little  boy's  father.    I  took  away  from  him 


300  DEMOCRACY   IN   EARNEST 

the  gruardianship  of  a  Christian  parent,  left  him  to  go  on 
through  life  without  even  the  memory  of  a  Christian  father, 
but  labeled  as  a  drunkard's  son.  I  murdered  my  chum's  hus- 
band, left  her  to  fight  her  way  as  best  she  could.  She  stood 
it  for  about  six  years,  and  then  her  heart  broke,  and  we  made 
another  grave  in  the  cemetery. 

Now  let  there  be  no  uncertain  sound :  I  am  a  suffragist. 
But  in  spite  of  suffrage,  in  spite  of  the  freedom  granted  to 
the  women  of  this  century — I  am  old-fashioned,  I  guess — 
I  am  harking  back  through  all  the  ages  and  hearing  Him,  the 
Master  of  all  life,  calling  us,  the  womanhood  of  the  world, 
calling  us  to  our  business,  to  the  business  of  man-raising. 
It  is  woman's  business  to  raise  men — and  it  is  an  awful  job! 
It  takes  at  least  two  women  to  raise  one  good  man.  It  takes 
his  mother  twenty-one  straight  years  of  her  life — that  is  a 
long  time  to  put  on  one  piece  of  business.  Then  she  turns 
that  unfinished  piece  over  to  another  woman,  his  wife — 
sometimes  it  takes  more  than  one  wife  to  finish  the  job,  but 
it  is  worth  it.  Little  mother,  you  are  not  raising  live  stock. 
It  were  a  task  truly  worth  while,  if  you  were  raising  men 
for  that  old  flag ;  but  that  is  not  all  you  are  doing.  In  this 
United  States  of  America,  in  these  great,  perilous  times  we 
need  better  men  under  that  old  flag ;  and  it  would  be  worth 
your  while  to  give  twenty-one  years  of  your  time  to  raise 
a  man  who  is  strong  enough,  true  enough,  pure  and  noble 
enough  to  defend  and  support  it. 

That  boy,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  is  triune  in  his 
nature :  he  is  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual,  and  that  third 
part  of  him  is  immortal.  "Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of 
God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be;  but  we 
know  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him."  So, 
little  mother,  you  are  raising  men  to  people  the  country  that 
is  eternal,  raising  sons  for  the  living  God.  Is  it  worth  while? 
There  is  no  greater  business  in  all  the  world ;  and  it  fills  up 
the  citizenship  of  heaven — this  business  of  man-raising. 

But  something  has  gone  wrong  with  our  business;  we 
are  not  raising  as  good  men  as  our  mothers  did.  I  attended 
a  race  betterment  convention  a  year  ago,  and  we  asked: 


ALCOHOL'S  HEALTH  TOLL  301 

"What  is  the  matter  with  our  business?  Why  can  we  not 
turn  out  from  the  American  home  men  as  strong  and  splen- 
did as  were  our  own  fathers?"  The  answer  was:  "Because 
America  is  not  furnishing  sound  sires  for  sound  sons."  The 
stock  raisers  have  discovered  that  they  cannot  raise  sound 
swine  without  sound  sires.  Motherhood  at  last  has  come  to 
recognize  that  the  child  is  the  product  of  both  his  inheritance 
and  his  environment,  and  science  has  proved  that  the  man 
who  fills  himself  with  alcohol  receives  upon  himself,  upon 
his  body,  upon  his  mind,  upon  his  very  soul,  scars  to  his 
unborn  babe.  The  laws  of  heredity  are  absolutely  inex- 
orable ;  you  cannot  escape  them.  You  are  what  your  father 
was,  and  the  man  who  scars  and  blurs  himself  with  alcohol 
scars  also  his  unborn  babe.  Did  you  think  a  man  paid  for 
his  glass  of  beer  when  he  put  the  nickel  upon  the  counter? 
He  does  not  pay:  his  baby  pays,  that  is  who  pays  for  it. 
Von  Schaefer,  of  Munich,  studied  for  eight  long  years  the 
effect  of  alcohol  on  the  unborn  babe.  In  1911  he  printed  the 
conclusion  of  his  research  in  the  Wochenchrieft.  He  de- 
clared that  for  every  hundred  babes  born  to  beer-drinking 
Munich  seventy-two  were  imperfect.  Listen  to  me,  man, 
was  not  life  hard  enough  for  you,  you  with  all  your  perfect 
faculties?  Tell  me  what  it  would  have  been  had  you  been 
marked  with  the  scars  of  drink  on  your  body,  or  your  mind, 
or  your  soul. 

Seventy-two  out  of  every  hundred  babies  unsound  in 
wet  territory!  Think  of  it!  Why,  if  there  were  seventy- 
two  unsound  piggies  out  of  every  hundred  born  on  the  farm 
— all  because  a  poison  was  poured  through  the  trough  from 
which  the  parent  hogs  were  fed — you  men  would  rise  in 
your  masculine,  political  might  and  do  something  conclusive 
before  sunset. 

A  mother  goes  almost  to  the  gates  of  death,  raps  at  the 
door  of  her  own  grave  to  bring  back  a  man-child,  and  then 
for  one  rapturous,  transcendent  moment  she  holds  him  close 
to  her  heart  lest  he  may  slip  back  into  his  little  grave,  for 
one  baby  out  of  every  two  born  in  the  world  dies  before  it 
reaches  maturity.     Science  sa3^s  with  all  definiteness  that 


302  DEMOCRACY'   IN  EARNEST 

the  man  who  drags  his  soul  through  the  shame  of  a  licensed 
saloon  takes  out  of  his  unborn  baby  its  vitality,  literally 
cashes  it  in,  and  the  child  is  born  feeble,  cannot  live,  because 
its  father — and  sometimes,  0  the  shame  of  it,  its  mother — 
has  cashed  in  its  little  life  for  alcohol. 

O  people,  hear  me !  We  are  losing  our  babies  because  of 
the  recklessness  and  dissipation  on  the  part  of  fathers  and 
mothers.  I  am  not  so  rash  as  to  say  that  every  baby  that 
dies  in  America  is  cursed  by  the  saloon,  but  science  has 
proved  that  among  the  causes  of  race  degeneracy,  first  of 
all  comes  alcohol.  Do  you  know  that  in  the  fifty  years  since 
America  went  into  partnership  with  the  liquor  traffic  we 
have  produced  so  many  feeble-minded  children  that  feeble- 
mindedness has  increased  five  hundred  per  cent?  Does  it 
pay  a  mother  to  go  to  the  doors  of  death  to  bring  back  an 
idiot?  You  spent  ninety  millions  last  year  to  take  care  of 
the  feeble-minded ;  but  that  is  not  all,  for  all  are  not  taken 
care  of  by  public  money.  For  every  two  children  in  the 
institutions  for  feeble-minded  there  is  a  third  one  in  his 
mother's  arms ;  many  a  tender  mother  will  not  give  her  child 
to  be  cared  for  in  an  institution,  but  yields  her  own  life  to 
take  care  of  it.  Dr.  Zuntz,  of  Berlin,  says  that  one  out  of 
every  two  feeble-minded  folk  in  the  world  is  feeble-minded 
because  of  drink  in  the  first,  second,  or  third  generation. 

Dr.  Kellogg  says :  "We  have  increased  insanity  five  hun- 
dred per  cent  in  the  past  fifty  years  in  the  United  States. 
Fifty  years  ago  there  were  not  as  many  crazy  folk  in  the 
United  States  as  there  are  in  the  State  of  Indiana  to-night." 
This  same  authority  computed  the  length  of  time  it  would 
take  for  us  all  to  go  crazy,  and  he  discovered  that  in  ex- 
actly two  hundred  and  sixty  years  we  will  all  be  crazy.  One 
out  of  every  two  cases  of  insanity  is  caused  by  drink  in  the 
first,  second,  or  third  generation.  This  is  the  statement  of 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  Commissioner  of  Lunacy  in  London  for 
forty  years.  To-night  there  are  two  hundred  and  forty  thou- 
sand of  America's  sons  and  daughters  in  the  penitentiary! 
I  do  not  mean  jails  and  workhouses,  but  the  penitentiaries. 
Do  you  wonder  that  woman's  head  is  bowed  with  shame  and 


alcohol's  health  toll  303 

her  heart  broken?  The  conservative  criminologists  of  the 
world  declare  that  sixty-two  out  of  every  one  hundred  men 
in  the  penitentiaries  are  there  because  of  alcohol  in  the  first, 
second,  or  third  generation. 

Mothers  have  done  their  best.  We  hold  our  better  baby 
contests,  our  race  betterment  conventions ;  we  have  medical 
inspection  in  public  schools;  you  helped  us  to  get  an  anti- 
child  labor  law ;  in  some  States  you  have  made  it  impossible 
for  the  defective  to  multiply  his  kind ;  already  we  are  ask- 
ing for  a  clean  bill  of  health  for  every  man  who  approaches 
the  marriage  altar — but  you  are  making  more  degenerates 
in  the  saloons  in  one  day  than  can  be  corrected  in  genera- 
tions. Will  the  government  never  awake  to  the  need  of  pro- 
tecting the  business  of  motherhood  ? 

I  have  frequently  heard  people,  who  look  quite  like  you, 
declare  this  twentieth  century  to  be  the  most  wonderful  of 
all  the  world's  history.  Are  you  sure?  Remember,  you  and 
I  were  not  living  when  Greece  was  in  her  glory.  Look  back- 
ward now,  see  Greece  a  glory-crowned  mountain  peak,  shed- 
ding the  light  of  learning  over  the  known  world.  Watch 
while  one,  just  one  of  her  cities  (Athens)  gives  to  the  world, 
in  a  very  few  years,  ten  of  twenty-seven  of  the  world's 
greatest  men.  Then  see  the  deep  valley  of  the  Dark  Ages 
that  blackens  the  world's  history  following  the  gleam  of  the 
glory  of  Greece.  Then  again  the  upward  climb,  up  and  up 
until  majestic  Rome  sat  on  her  seven  hills  and  ruled  the 
whole  world.  Ah,  what  sons  she  begat!  I  rarely  hear  you 
speak  of  the  wealth  of  Rome,  or  of  her  culture  and  learn- 
ing, but  you  talk,  even  now,  of  the  mighty  Romans.  But 
do  you  remember  that  Rome  was  "dry  territory"  for  five 
hundred  years?  Then  she  began  dispensing  red  liquor  to 
her  sons  and  her  sons  did  what  all  sons  of  hum.anity  must 
do  under  wine's  influence:  they  declined  to  defectiveness, 
became  millstones  round  the  nation's  neck,  and  dragged 
civilization  down  again  to  the  Dark  Ages.  Can  you  see  it^ 
that  deep  valley  of  the  shadow  of  forgotten  power? 

Out   of   that   shadow   civilization,    again    reborn,    rose 
slowly  to  the  wondrous  beauty  of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 


304  DEMOCRACY   IN  EARNEST 

Then  Italy  did  what  Rome  had  done:  she  crushed  the  pur- 
ple g-rape  and  dispensed  the  purple  blood  of  the  grape  to 
her  sons,  and  again,  with  the  decline  of  manhood,  came  the 
decline  of  the  nation,  again  civilization  was  shrouded  in 
the  shadows  of  the  Dark  Ages. 

Once  more  the  slow,  steady,  difficult  upward  climb — past 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  past  the  seventeenth,  the 
eighteenth,  and  the  nineteenth  to  the  wonders  of  our  twen- 
tieth century.  Fortunes  are  amassed  by  millions,  science 
achieves  marvels,  we  fly  through  the  air,  we  talk  to  our 
friends  thous'ands  of  miles  distant  without  so  much  as  the 
aid  of  a  wire,  we  sing  by  machinery,  we  feast  and  make 
merry,  and  suddenly — like  a  bolt  out  of  the  blue — the  world- 
war-cloud  broke.  The  crashing  fall  of  kingdoms  and  the 
dirge  of  doomed  nations  smother  the  meanings  of  mother- 
hood and  the  agony  of  man.  Rivers  run  red  with  the  blood 
of  mighty  sires  and  sun-crowned  sons  of  honor  choke  in  the 
trenches  of  death,  while  America  stands  facing  forward  to 
— God  forbid  it — to  a  waning  civilization.  With  your 
eyes  fixed  on  the  mountain  peaks  of  the  past — Greece,  Rome, 
the  Italian  Renaissance — will  you  hear  me  now,  0  men,  my 
brothers,  hear  me  while  I  affirm  that  right  here  in  my 
America's  hand  rests  all  that  now  remains  of  our  boasted 
twentieth-century  civilization?  I  am  not  forgetting  little 
Switzerland,  and  Norway  and  Sweden  still  at  peace,  but 
I  would  remind  you  that  the  only  really  great  world  power 
at  peace  to-night  is  under  Old  Glory — must  we  go  down  to 
the  Dark  Ages  again  ?  Look  at  that  old  flag  and  answer  me, 
look  at  that  old  flag  and  quit  you  like  men.  See  her  stripes, 
red  with  the  blood  of  the  best  sires  that  ever  breathed ;  see 
her  stripes,  white  with  the  pure  virtue  of  noble  mother- 
hood ;  look  at  her  glory  stars,  set  in  the  blue  of  God's  eter- 
nal truth.    Listen — I  can  hear  you  singing, 

"The  old  flag  never  touched  the  ground. 
The  old  flag  never  yet  was  downed," 

but  she  will  be  downed,  she  will  drag  in  the  very  mire 
unless  you  hold  her  up,  men,  hold  her  in  her  place  as 
defender  of  freedom,  in  her  place  as  guardian  of  the  help- 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  ALCOHOLIC  PROBLEM  305 

less,  in  her  place  as  champion  of  religious  liberty.  Then 
give  to  her  sons  that  are  mighty,  keep  for  her  sons  that  are 
true,  stamp  out  every  curse  that  threatens  manhood  until 
we  can  face  our  God  in  a  freedom  that  shall  avail  for  the 
world. 

"Lord  God  of  hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget — lest  we  forget!" 

Lest  we  forget  the  flag  in  her  need  of  real  men,  lest  we 
forget  a  dying  old  world,  lest  we  forget  a  waning  civiliza- 
tion. Lord  God  of  hosts,  be  with  my  America  now,  for  it 
sometimes  seems  to  me  we  have  forgotten. 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  THE  ALCOHOLIC 
PROBLEM 

T.  D.  CROTHERS,  M.D.,  SECRETARY  AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  FOR 
STUDY  OF  ALCOHOLIC  AND  OTHER  NARCOTICS,  SUPER- 
INTENDENT WALNUT  LODGE  HOS- 
PITAL, HARTFORD,  CONN. 

Every  new  study  of  health  problems  concerning  com- 
munities and  homes  shows  that  alcohol  is  very  intimately 
associated,  both  as  active  and  contributing  causes,  with  the 
disorders  and  diseases  which  are  prevalent. 

Studies  of  the  causes  of  pauperism  and  conditions  which 
develop  the  dependent  classes  reveal  the  same  active  sources. 
Studies  of  the  indigent  from  the  point  of  heredity  bring 
out  the  startling  fact  of  alcoholic  drinking  in  the  ancestors, 
followed  by  defective  children.  Thus  epilepsy,  idiocy,  in- 
sanity, and  consumption,  that  apparently  grow  from  some 
distinct  conditions,  are  very  often  traceable  to  this  particu- 
lar agent  in  the  parents. 

The  statistics  proving  this  are  very  startling  and  are 
so  uniform  as  to  leave  no  possible  doubt  as  to  the  degenera- 
tive effects  of  alcohol  on  the  second  and  third  generations. 
The  conclusion,  based  on  accurate  facts,  is  that  alcohol  is 
one  of  the  most  widespread  degenerative  agents  in  common 
use  to-day. 

20 


306  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

The  wonder  is  that  this  has  not  been  recognized  before, 
in  view  of  the  evidence  that  can  be  seen  in  every  town  and 
community  of  the  country.  For  five  thousand  years  alcohol 
has  been  condemned  as  a  beverage  and  said  to  be  particu- 
larly dangerous  to  health,  and  yet  the  theory  that  it  has 
some  stimulant  and  tonic  properties  when  properly  used 
has  come  down  to  very  recent  times,  and  is  to-day  believed 
in  by  a  number  of  persons. 

Twenty  years  ago  scientific  men  took  up  the  question 
of  testing  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  brain  and  tissue.  The 
question  was.  Were  the  old  theories  correct?  Did  alcohol 
have  a  tonic  and  medicinal  value,  and  were  there  certain 
stimulant  effects  that  were  valuable  on  certain  occasions? 

Accurate  studies  and  experiments  in  laboratories  denied 
these  theories  and  brought  no  confirmation  whatever.  This 
stimulated  enthusiastic  men  to  make  new  and  advanced 
studies  in  every  direction  concerning  alcohol  and  its  effects 
on  cell  and  tissue.  They  filially  all  reached  one  great  con- 
clusion— namely,  that  alcohol  is  not  a  stimidant,  but  a  nar- 
cotic and  depressant,  and  that  if  it  had  any  medicinal  effect 
it  was  that  of  a  narcotic. 

This  is  sustained  by  every  new  examination  of  the  sub- 
ject; and  though  opposed  to  the  supposed  common  experi- 
ence of  many  persons,  it  has  become  an  established  fact. 
These  new  facts  give  a  wider  aspect  to  the  subject  of  alco- 
hol and  explain  many  of  the  phenomena  which  have  puzzled 
thoughtful  men  and  women  everywhere. 

Thus  the  poor  workman  after  a  hard  day's  work,  using 
a  glass  of  beer  or  spirits,  feels  better  and  has  a  sense  of 
exhilaration  and  relief  from  the  fatigue.  The  glass  of  wine 
to  one  who  is  tired  and  weary  covers  up  the  discomfort  and 
gives  a  consciousness  of  vigor  again.  The  idea  that  it  is  a 
food  or  that  it  in  some  way  develops  strength  and  vigor 
becomes  pronounced.  In  reality,  science  shows  that  this  is 
narcotism,  that  the  drug  has  simply  covered  up  the  bad 
feeling  and  given  a  sense  of  relief,  but  in  no  way  has  it 
removed  the  cause.  The  signal  flags  of  pain,  weariness,  and 
discomfort  have  been  taken  down  and  their  meaning  de- 
stroyed. 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  ALCOHOLIC  PROBLEM  307 

This  delusion  of  vigor  and  strength  becomes  a  veritable 
fascination ;  and  no  matter  what  the  feelings  may  be  after- 
wards, the  fact  that  this  particular  drug  brought  relief  is 
accepted  as  evidence  of  its  value.  Later  these  effects  pass 
away,  and  the  impulse  is  to  take  some  more.  The  after 
effects  are  never  ascribed  to  the  real  cause,  but  attributed 
to  something  else.  What  has  happened  has  been  practically 
a  covering  up  process  or  a  veritable  anaesthesia  of  the  ener- 
gies of  the  body. 

This  is  not  a  matter  of  theory,  but  can  be  demonstrated 
by  instruments  of  precision.  Thus  every  one  of  the  five 
senses  has  been  lowered  in  activity.  The  reasoning  power 
has  been  diminished  and  the  muscular  activity  lessened ;  and 
this  occurs  in  every  instance,  whether  recognized  or  not. 

Other  experiments  show  that  all  use  of  spirits  practically 
and  literally  poisons  the  organism.  The  degree  may  be  very 
small,  but  it  exists.  This  poisoning  affects  the  cells,  prevents 
their  activity,  and  interferes  with  the  chemistry  of  the  body 
and  the  delicate  changes  of  foods  into  cell  and  tissue. 

Beyond  this,  the  order  of  repair  and  building  up  is 
checked,  so  that  it  can  be  said  scientifically  that  all  use  of 
spirits  produces  a  degtee  of  starvation  and  poisoning  which 
can  be  demonstrated  beyond  any  question.  Innumerable 
illustrations  confirm  this  in  the  histories  of  persons  who 
use  spirits,  and  can  be  seen  in  every  section  of  the  country. 
Such  persons  are  really  starved  and  poisoned  in  ways  that 
they  do  not  understand. 

Evidently  any  agent  which  poisons  the  system  and 
lowers  the  power  of  building  up  will  certainly  produce 
dangerous  consequences,  and  this  is  the  fact  that  modern 
science  is  teaching  to-day.  Outside  of  the  laboratory  teach- 
ings, there  is  a  mass  of  evidence  that  is  startling  in  the 
extreme. 

Thus  life  insurance  companies  that  study  vitality  and 
longevity  on  exact  mathematical  lines  find  that  alcohol  is 
one  of  the  most  serious  agents  in  shortening  life.  Some 
companies  now  refuse  to  insure  any  one  who  uses  spirits, 
simply  because  of  the  increased  risks.     Other  companies 


308  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

raise  the  premiums  on  those  who  use  alcohol,  and  the  fact  is 
recognized  everywhere  that  spirit  drinkers  are  uncertain 
and  precarious  risks.  These  are  facts  outside  of  personal 
opinions. 

Large  manufacturing  concerns,  where  the  product  of  the 
employees  is  studied  on  the  same  mathematical  basis,  find 
that  spirit  drinkers  are  incapable  of  doing  the  same  amount 
of  work  as  the  abstainers,  and  there  is  a  constant  effort  to 
eliminate  that  class  of  people  and  fill  their  places  with  total 
abstainers. 

Probably  the  railroad  companies  have  more  intense  inter- 
est in  this  question  than  other  business  concerns.  Their 
business  is  very  seriously  imperiled  by  men  who  drink. 
Wherever  responsible  men  are  permitted  to  use  spirits  in 
their  service,  accidents,  collisions,  and  public  disasters  that 
could  and  should  be  prevented  are  prevalent.  And  they  are 
widely  and  emphatically  demanding  entire  abstinence. 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  which  studies  the 
causes  of  public  disasters,  finds  that  a  very  large  percentage 
of  accidents  are  traceable  to  the  moderate  or  occasional 
drinking  of  responsible  persons. 

Recently  a  railroad  accident  in  which  forty  lives  were 
lost  was  clearly  referable  to  the  stupidity  of  the  engineer, 
who  used  spirits  before  the  accident. 

The  old  theories  of  chance,  dispensation  of  Providence, 
and  the  will  of  God  to  explain  great  public  catastrophes  have 
passed  away.  Science  shows  that  they  all  result  from  causes 
distinct  and  traceable — causes  which  could  have  been  recog- 
nized, with  results  that  should  have  been  prevented. 

Fire  insurance  companies  have  created  an  equally  start- 
ling mass  of  evidence  from  their  studies  of  the  causes  of 
fires.  Some  of  the  statements  here  show  that  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent  of  fires  are  traceable  to  the  carelessness  of 
persons  who  were  under  the  influence  of  alcohol  at  the  time 
or  shortly  before. 

The  mercantile  agency  statistics,  which  deal  with  the 
question  of  forecasting  the  capacity  and  reliability  of  busi- 
ness men,  show  that  a  moderate  or  excessive  drinker  is 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  ALCOHOLIC  PROBLEM  309 

always  a  dangerous  risk,  and  should  be  rated  accordingly. 
As  an  example,  of  a  thousand  men  rated  as  worth  $5,000 
apiece,  who  were  occasional  or  moderate  drinkers,  in  the 
course  of  ten  years  at  least  half  of  them  would  be  bankrupt 
or  have  lost  their  property.  Of  another  thousand  men 
rated  for  the  same  amount,  who  were  known  as  total  ab- 
stainers, in  the  course  of  ten  years  not  more  than  two  or 
three  per  cent  would  have  lost  their  property. 

It  is  said  in  business  circles  that  the  probability  of  suc- 
cess are  from  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent  less  in  the  drinking 
man  than  in  the  total  abstainer,  and  this  is  confirmed  by  a 
great  variety  of  evidence. 

Another  field,  in  which  the  evidence  grows  with  startling 
rapidity,  comes  from  the  bonding  companies,  who  insure 
persons  occupying  responsible  positions  against  loss  to  their 
.employers.  These  companies  find  that  alcoholic  habits  and 
association  with  men  who  drink  are  the  greatest  perils  they 
have  to  contend  with,  hence  they  are  constantly  eliminating 
risks  of  this  character  and  refusing  to  be  responsible  for 
the  conduct  of  men  who  use  spirits. 

Thus,  the  great  question  in  the  business  world  to-day  is 
the  capacity  and  sobriety  of  the  persons  who  are  doing 
important  work.  The  moderate  drinker  of  a  few  years  ago 
is  being  rapidly  replaced  in  business  circles.  His  vigor, 
capacity,  and  power  of  control  are  always  under  suspicion 
while  he  is  drinking. 

The  significance  of  these  facts  in  any  sociological  study 
of  the  community  is  very  evident.  Clearly,  this  is  the 
beginning  of  a  vast  army  of  men  and  women  who  become 
degenerates,  dependents,  paupers,  and  defectives.  What- 
ever other  causes  may  have  been  present,  the  early  and 
continuous  use  of  alcohol  as  a  beverage  has  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  future  physical  and  mental  bankruptcy. 

The  so-called  moderate  drinker,  who  boasts  of  his  ca- 
pacity to  stop  any  moment,  is  often  the  most  seriously  dis- 
eased. All  sociological  studies  which  would  improve  the 
conditions  of  living  and  eliminate  the  sources  of  peril  must 
begin  in  the  home,  in  the  community,  with  the  small  and 


310  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

insignificant  thing's  of  life.  Here  is  the  foundation  for 
future  failure  and  prosperity.  The  community  that  toler- 
ates any  form  of  spirit-drinking,  or  the  man  or  woman  who 
defends  it  as  natural  and  normal,  is  literally  sowing-  seeds 
for  his  own  and  others'  destruction.  The  man  or  woman 
who  finds  relief  from  spirits  and  drugs  is  starting  on  a 
downward  track.  Covering  up  the  exhaustion  never  re- 
moves it.  The  highest  kind  of  preventive  training  by  health 
boards  and  physicians  is  to  point  out  the  sources  of  danger 
at  their  beginning  and  suggest  some  other  method  of  over- 
coming the  exhaustion  for  which  spirits  are  taken.  Schools 
as  well  as  families  open  up  a  tremendous  field  for  the  pre- 
vention of  diseases,  disorders,  and  future  physical  and 
mental  bankruptcies.  Here  the  great  facts  that  we  are  gov- 
erned by  a  world  of  cause  and  effect  and  physical  conditions, 
which  recognize  everything  that  develops  and  enlarges  hu- 
man life,  are  to  be  studied  with  as  much  exactness  as  food 
and  surroundings. 

There  is  something  more  in  the  churches  and  schools  to 
be  taught  and  studied  than  the  theories  and  conceptions  of 
life  here  and  beyond.  They  should  be  made  veritable  kin- 
dergartens for  the  culture  and  teaching  of  things  that  make 
life  strong  and  vigorous. 

The  twentieth  century  has  brought  with  it  an  imperative 
demand  for  a  new  alignment  of  theories,  practices,  and  con- 
ceptions of  life.  The  teachings  of  the  fathers,  the  prestiges 
and  traditions  of  the  past,  often  sacred,  can  give  little  or 
no  help  to  the  solution  of  the  great  modern  questions  and 
problems  that  appeal  to  us.  We  must  face  the  fact  that  the 
present  mortality  of  the  race  is  double  what  it  should  be; 
that  the  losses  and  crosses  which  come  to  every  human 
being  are  preventable  to  a  startling  degree;  that  diseases 
are  a  tremendous  reflection  on  our  ignorance  and  neglect. 

We  know  that  the  diseases  and  scourges  which  prevailed 
years  ago  have  largely  disappeared.  The  shadow  of  yellow 
fever  that  yearly  crossed  the  Southland,  taking  its  terrible 
toll  of  victims,  has  faded.  Malaria,  an  affliction  that  was 
expected  and  treated  as  inevitable  in  every  community,  is 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  ALCOHOLIC  PROBLEM  311 

now  the  exception  and  will  disappear  from  a  larger  intelli- 
gence. Pellagra  is  now  coming  under  the  scrutiny  of  investi- 
gation, and  will  soon  be  relegated  with  other  diseases  to  the 
past.  Even  consumption,  the  great  white  plague,  is  receding 
before  the  march  of  a  clearer  knowledge  of  cause  and  effect. 

Thus  the  trend  everywhere  of  public  and  scientific  sen- 
timent is  to  discover  the  causes  of  sanitary  and  other  evils 
and  to  remove  them  at  the  beginning.  This  is  the  most 
intensely  practical  work  for  physicians  and  sociologists  in 
every  community.  It  is  literally  a  field  white  unto  the 
harvest  and  with  few  gleaners. 

These  are  the  facts  which  we  must  recognize  and  make 
practical  in  both  home. and  community  life.  The  delusion 
that  alcohol  in  some  form  or  some  way  contributes  to 
lengthen  life,  prevent  disease,  and  increase  enjoyment  has 
no  place  in  modern  science.  It  has  no  basis  and  cannot  be 
sustained  by  exact  study.  Science  has  cleared  away  the 
ground  here  and  calls  for  a  larger,  wider  study  of  this  sub- 
ject, above  the  views  and  traditions  of  the  past. 

Temperance  reform  is  something  more  than  signing  the 
pledge,  joining  a  political  party,  or  becoming  converted  to 
some  particular  faith.  It  is  really  a  recognition  of  the  facts 
and  putting  them  to  practical  service  in  our  everyday  life. 
It  is  more  than  the  word  "reform"  indicates.  It  is  stepping 
out  of  the  dead  past  on  to  a  higher  level  of  reality  and 
readjustment,  and  putting  to  service  these  great  facts. 

Alcohol  as  a  beverage  should  not  receive  any  more  con- 
sideration than  theories  of  witchcraft  or  the  possession  of 
the  devil,  but  as  an  anaesthetic  in  the  form  of  chloroform 
and  ether  it  has  made  possible  the  most  marvelous  advances 
in  surgery. 

A  few  pioneers  pressing  these  truths  on  a  halting  public 
sentiment  have  not  yet  received  the  warm  support  they 
deserve.  In  view  of  all  the  facts,  this  is  one  of  the  wonder- 
ments of  the  day. 

It  is  clearly  evident  that  the  alcoholic  problem  is  to  be 
the  most  intensely  agitated  subject  in  the  sociological  world 
for  many  years  to  come.    Starting  from  the  fact  that  alcohol 


312  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

is  a  depressant  and  narcotic,  and  any  good  effects  from  it  are 
anaesthetic,  there  opens  up  a  very  wide  field  of  causes  and 
conditions  that  provoke  its  use  both  as  a  beverage  and 
medicine. 

Among  the  intense  questions  that  suggest  themselves 
are  these:  Why  do  men  and  women  in  all  grades  of  life, 
with  all  stages  of  culture,  become  possessed  with  a  desire 
to  use  spirits?  Why  do  they  continue  a  whole  lifetime,  in 
view  of  the  danger,  risk,  and  peril  ?  What  fascination  makes 
the  business  man  imperil  his  home  and  financial  interests 
by  the  use  of  wines,  beer,  or  spirits?  Why  do  not  the 
thoughtful  man  and  woman  heed  the  warnings  of  debility 
and  degeneration  from  the  use  of  alcohol,  and  make  an 
effort  to  escape?  What  are  really  the  motive,  the  impulse, 
the  impression  at  the  bottom  of  the  alcoholic  craze  ? 

Examples  like  the  following  are  inexplicable.  A  sober 
man  in  middle  life  suddenly  becomes  a  heavy  drinker  and 
soon  after  dies.  A  young  man  brought  up  in  the  very  best 
circles  and  surroundings  suddenly  resorts  to  spirits  and  is 
wrecked.  Thousands  of  business  men  stop  at  intervals  and 
drink  to  great  excess,  then  become  sober  and  go  on  with 
their  work.  Gilded  saloons  and  fashionable  clubhouses 
actually  grow  and  cultivate  the  desire  for  spirits  which  is 
repelled  by  outside  influences. 

Innumerable  instances  of  drinking  parents  with  de- 
fective descendants,  who  not  only  drink  in  the  early  period 
of  life,  but  seem  to  have  no  conception  of  anything  higher 
than  present  gratification  regardless  of  all  consequences, 
may  be  cited. 

This  is  the  field  where  inebriety,  insanity,  idiocy,  pauper- 
ism, disease,  crime,  and  the  armies  of  degenerates  and  de- 
fectives get  their  start.  This  is  the  undiscovered  country, 
the  great  dark  continent,  where  the  causes  and  conditions 
that  we  deplore  so  much  are  to  be  ascertained  and  pointed 
out. 

A  research  hospital  for  the  study  of  these  causes  has 
been  established  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  the  purpose  of  which 
is  to  gather  and  formulate  the  facts  and  determine  their 


SOCIOLOGICAL  ASPECTS  OF  ALCOHOLIC  PROBLEM  313 

meaning,  and  point  out  some  of  the  great  physiological  laws 
which  control  this  great  scourge  of  the  human  race. 

The  facts  are  almost  innumerable.  Almost  every  family 
and  certainly  every  community  of  the  country  can  furnish 
histories  of  cases,  the  causes  and  reasons  of  which  are 
unknown.  Doctors  and  health  boards  and  students  of  soci- 
ology everywhere  are  confronted  with  the  phenomena  of 
the  drink  evil  which  they  are  unable  to  understand  except 
in  a  very  limited  way. 

It  is  proposed  to  gather  this  vast  mass  of  facts,  tabulate 
them,  and  verify  the  conclusions  which  they  indicate.  In 
this  way  we  shall  know  why  the  drink  craze  has  come  down 
through  all  generations  and  spreads  through  all  communi- 
ties. We  shall  know  why  the  armies  of  dependents  and 
defectives  exist.  We  shall  get  back  to  the  first  causes  and 
concentrate  all  our  efforts  here  for  their  prevention  and 
removal.  This  great  alcoholic  problem  has  got  to  be  studied 
from  this  point  of  view.  Then  we  can  concentrate  our  great- 
est efforts  toward  cure  and  prevention. 

The  saloon,  the  brewery,  and  the  distillery  will  disap- 
pear when  we  realize  how  far  they  are  deflecting  the  course 
of  human  life  on  the  sidetracks,  and  how  far  they  are 
destroying  the  interests  and  activities  of  every  human  being. 
When  we  know  how  far  they  are  schools  of  training  down- 
ward for  the  race,  there  will  be  no  argument  or  theor>\  It 
will  be  a  matter  of  facts  and  their  meaning. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  startling  facts  of  the  present  times 
that  the  public  sentiment  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  all 
unconsciously,  is  fostering  and  cultivating  the  very  condi- 
tions out  of  which  spring  the  alcoholic  evil.  The  tremen- 
dous efforts  made  in  all  circles  to  overcome  this  evil  fail,  to 
a  large  degree,  because  they  are  not  founded  on  facts  and 
the  causes  which  develop  the  inebriate  and  the  degenerate 
everywhere. 

Sociologically  this  is  one  of  the  great  burning  questions 
of  the  hour,  and  sometime  in  the  near  future  it  will  be 
settled  and  the  race  of  degenerates  will  disappear. 


314  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 


SOME  PHASES  OF  THE  WORLD-WIDE  PROHIBITION 
MOVEMENT  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  CHRIS- 
TIAN CITIZENSHIP 

ERNEST    H.    CHERRINGTON,    GENERAL    MANAGER    PUBLISHING 

INTERESTS   OF  THE  ANTI-SALOON   LEAGUE   OF 

AMERICA,  WESTERVILLE,  OHIO 

In  one  sense  history  never  repeats  itself;  in  another 
sense  history  is  largely  a  series  of  repetitions. 

Individuals,  tribes,  communities,  and  nations  change  in 
their  development,  in  their  attitude  toward  truth  and  in 
their  conceptions  of  truth,  but  truth  itself  and  the  laws 
w^hich  it  directly  governs  never  change. 

The  remarkable  fact  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is 
that  no  new  law  was  laid  down,  but  that  in  simple  language 
Christ  gave  to  the  multitude  an  understandable  interpre- 
tation of  truths  hoary  with  age. 

The  world-wide  temperance  reform  is  in  this  respect  no 
exception.  The  modern  liquor  traffic,  as  we  know  it,  owes 
its  existence  and  perpetuation  unreservedly  to  the  young 
nations  of  the  world.  The  Eastern  religions — Confucian- 
ism, Buddhism,  Brahminism,  as  well  as  Mohammedanism — 
have  all  been  prohibition  religions.  As  long  as  these  East- 
ern nations  stood  alone  without  interference  from  the  West, 
they  consistently  maintained  and  enforced  prohibition. 
The  only  liquor  problem  in  the  Orient  and  of  the  island 
nations  to-day  is  that  which  has  been  forced  upon  them  by 
the  blind  greed  of  European  and  American  liquor  interests. 

The  Christian  nations  of  Europe  and  America  in  the 
present  world-wide  crusade  against  alcohol  are  experien- 
cing repetitions  of  what  occurred  in  Oriental  countries  thou- 
sands of  years  before  modern  nations  recognized  the  im- 
portance of  the  liquor  problem.  A  most  significant  fact 
in  this  connection,  however,  is  that,  while  these  Christian 
nations  are  largely  responsible  for  the  liquor  evil  in  prac- 
tically all  countries  of  the  world,  these  same  Christian  na- 
tions are  just  now  in  better  position  to  correct  the  wrong 


SOME  PHASES  OF  WORLD-WIDE  PROHIBITION  315 

that  has  been  done  than  at  any  other  time  in  the  world's 
history.  Through  the  avenues  of  international  political 
control,  and  through  their  missionary  agencies,  Europe  and 
America  occupy  a  most  strategic  position.  In  the  year  1600 
only  seven  per  cent  of  the  world's  area  was  controlled  by 
the  Christian  nations ;  to-day  eighty -two  per  cent  is  so  con- 
trolled. A  century  ago  the  Christian  nations  goveraed 
400,000,000  people ;  to-day  they  govern  1,000,000,000  people. 

Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  great  war  in  Europe, 
there  were  indications  on  every  hand  of  a  great  awakening 
in  the  matter  of  prohibition  and  anti-liquor  activity.  The 
greatest  progress  which  had  been  made  in  Europe,  up  to 
that  time,  was  in  the  Land  of  the  Midnight  Sun — Norway, 
Sweden,  Finland,  and  Denmark — all  of  which  are  under 
some  form  of  local  option,  and  in  large  areas  of  which  the 
liquor  traffic  has  been  entirely  prohibited.  Aside  from 
Scandinavia,  Switzerland  was  the  only  European  nation 
where  the  people  had  a  legal  voice  on  the  liquor  question. 
Over  against  these  light  spots,  however,  there  stood  out  in 
distinct  and  threatening  contrast  the  black  areas  of  Ger- 
many, France,  England,  Holland,  Belgium,  Austro-Hun- 
gary,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy,  where  not  even  any  form 
of  local  veto  existed,  and  the  great  Russian  Empire,  where 
the  government  control  of  the  vodka  traffic  had  presented 
the  spectacle  of  a  great  nation  directly  debauching  her  sub- 
jects for  the  sake  of  the  profit  which  the  monopoly  brought 
to  the  royal  treasury.  The  increased  consumption  of 
spirituous  liquors  in  Russia  from  the  inauguration  of  the 
government  monopoly  in  1894  to  1914  was  over  500  per  cent. 

Belgium,  with  a  population  of  7,500,000,  had  more  than 
220,000  liquor-selling  establishments  before  the  war  began. 
This  was  one  for  every  eight  adult  men. 

The  output  of  the  13,000  breweries  in  the  German  Em- 
pire had  continued  its  work  of  debauchery  until  the  per 
capita  consumption  of  beer  alone  in  Germany  was  larger 
than  the  per  capita  consumption  of  all  kinds  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  in  America.  In  the  single  city  of  Berlin  there 
were,  before  the  war,  9,000  "animier  kneipen."    These  are 


316  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

public  houses  where  women  are  employed  as  waitresses  in 
order  that  their  personal  appearance  may  attract  the  crowd 
and  increase  the  sale  of  beer. 

For  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  advocates  of  tem- 
perance reform  have  held  up  to  the  world's  gaze  the  vivid 
and  searching  pictures  of  the  horrors  that  follow  in  the 
wake  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  miseries  of  weak  men,  the 
injustices  to  helpless  women,  the  atrocious  cruelties  to  inno- 
cent children  have  all  cried  out  for  redress.  Moreover, 
the  terrific  cost  of  the  liquor  traffic  has  been  shown  in  the 
robbery  of  the  poor  man,  in  the  increase  of  taxes,  in  the 
sapping  of  vitality,  in  the  depression  of  legtimate  business, 
in  the  toll  on  efficiency  in  the  causation  of  accidents,  in 
the  loss  of  labor  and  time,  and  in  the  frightful  waste  affect- 
ing practically  every  phase  of  national  wealth  and  preser- 
vation of  individual  and  national  resources.  The  truths 
which  have  been  presented,  argued,  and  reiterated  along 
all  these  lines  have  come  to  be  commonplace. 

Jesus  Christ  himself  touched  the  keynote  of  all  religious 
thought  and  activity  when  in  his  first  sermon  at  Nazareth, 
standing  before  those  who  ridiculed  his  presumption  and 
yet  who  were  amazed  and  capitivated  at  his  doctrine,  he 
declared  that  he  had  been  anointed  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  poor,  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance 
to  the  captives,  the  recovery  of  sight  to  the  blind,  and  to 
set  at  liberty  the  bruised.  In  fact,  the  great  central  value 
of  every  religion  that  this  world  has  known  has  consisted 
in  the  ability  of  that  religion  to  alleviate  human  suffering, 
to  do  away  with  human  sorrows  and  heartaches,  to  create 
human  happiness,  to  right  human  wrongs,  and  to  establish 
not  only  yonder  in  the  heavens,  but  here  on  earth  among 
men,  God's  real  kingdom  of  righteousness. 


IX.  NEGRO  WELFARE  AND  RACE 
RELATIONS 


The  Social  Program  of  the  Congress 
Introductory  Statement  at  Race  Relations  Section 
The  Religious  Life  of  the  Negro  and  Its  Bearing  on 

Health 
The  Negro  Church  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health 
The  Negro  Home  and  the  Future  of  the  Race 
Secret  Societies  as  Factors  in  the  Social  and  Eco- 
nomic Life  of  the  Negro 
111   Health,    Narcotics,     and    Lawlessness    Among 

Negroes 
The  Play  Life  of  Negro  Boys  and  Girls 
Housing  and  Community  Health  Among  Negroes 
What  Can  the  Church  Do  to  Promote  Good  Will 

Between  the  Races  ? 
Righting  Racial  Wrongs   and   Making   Democracy 
Safe 


THE  SOCIAL  PROGRAM  OF  THE  CONGRESS 
The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  stands: 

For  the  abolition  of  the  convict  lease  and  contract 
systems,  and  for  the  adoption  of  modern  principles 
of  prison  reform. 

For  the  extension  and  improvement  of  juvenile 
courts  and  juvenile  reformatories. 

For  the  proper  care  and  treatment  of  defectives, 
the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  insane,  the  epileptic,  and  the 
feeble-minded. 

For  the  recognition  of  the  relation  of  alcoholism 
to  disease,  to  crime,  to  pauperism,  and  to  vice,  and 
for  the  adoption  of  appropriate  preventive  measures. 

For  the  adoption  of  uniform  laws  of  the  highest 
standards  concerning  marriage  and  divorce. 

For  the  adoption  of  the  uniform  law  on  vital  sta- 
tistics. 

For  the  abolition  of  child  labor  by  the  enactment 
of  the  uniform  child  labor  law. 

For  the  enactment  of  school  attendance  laws,  that 
the  reproach  of  the  greatest  degree  of  illiteracy  may 
be  removed  from  our  section. 

For  the  suppression  of  prostitution. 

For  the  solving  of  the  race  question  in  a  spirit 
of  helpfulness  to  the  negro  and  of  equal  justice  to 
both  races. 

For  the  conservation  of  health  for  the  individual, 
for  the  community,  and  for  the  nation. 

For  the  closest  cooperation  between  the  Church 
and  all  social  agencies  for  the  securing  of  these  re- 
sults. 


INTRODUCTORY  STATEMENT  AT  RACE  RELATIONS 

SECTION 

JAMES  HARDY  DILLARD,  LL.D.,  CHAIRMAN 

I  CONGRATULATE  ourselves  on  meeting  again  in  this  Race 
Relations  Section  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress. 
The  meetings  which  we  have  held  in  past  years  have  been 
helpful  and  useful,  and  have  been  generally  recognized  as 
among  the  best  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Congress. 
Those  of  us  who  are  especially  interested  in  this  subject  of 
the  relations  of  the  races  in  our  Southern  States  are  grateful 
to  the  managers  of  the  Congress  for  providing  this  oppor- 
tunity for  frank  discussion.  At  each  meeting  members  of 
both  races  have  met  together  and  spoken  out  in  good  will 
their  thoughts  bearing  on  matters  of  mutual  concern. 

The  meeting  in  Atlanta,  five  years  ago,  was  the  first 
important  meeting  of  such  character  ever  held,  and  the 
addresses  given  on  that  occasion  were  highly  valuable.  Of 
equal  value  were  the  candid  discussions  following  the  formal 
addresses.  So  valuable  were  these  Atlanta  addresses  con- 
sidered to  be  that  by  unanimous  resolution  it  was  voted  that 
they  be  published  in  a  separate  volume.  This  was  done, 
under  the  title  of  'The  Human  Way."  The  book  has  been 
pronounced  by  many  to  contain,  on  the  whole,  the  best 
presentation  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  subject 
that  has  been  published.  A  new  edition,  with  some  changes 
and  additions,  has  recently  been  issued.  All  who  have 
attended  these  meetings  appreciate  their  importance,  and 
all  who  may  read  this  book  will  have  a  like  appreciation. 

It  is  good  sometimes  to  stop  and  think  of  the  object  of 
meetings  like  these,  and  indeed  of  all  our  work  and  efforts 
and  strivings.  Is  it  not  simply  to  try  to  improve  ourselves 
and  our  relations  to  each  other,  and  to  try  to  make  this  world 
a  better  place  for  all  of  us  to  live  in?  We  want  a  wider 
spread  of  knowledge  that  we  may  all  know  how  to  deal 
better  with  the  things  of  nature  and  to  produce  more 
abundantly  the  good  things  which  all  need  and  which  all 
should  be  able  to  enjoy.  We  want  these  good  things  to  be 
produced  for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  children  of 


320  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

men  who  are  born  into  this  common  world  of  ours.  And 
more  than  the  increase  and  spread  of  any  material  goods, 
we  want  the  feeling  of  good  relations  with  our  fellowmen, 
the  feeling  of  cooperation,  of  peace,  of  good  will,  of  the 
spirit  of  give  and  take.  We  want  the  realization  that  the 
well-being  and  advancement  of  one  individual,  of  one  race, 
or  of  one  nation  does  not  mean  the  ill-being  and  debasement 
of  the  other  man,  or  the  other  race,  or  the  other  nation. 

Was  there  ever  a  time  in  which  the  need  of  this  realiza- 
tion could  be  more  keenly  felt  than  in  these  awful  days  when 
the  spirit  of  domination  has  drawn  the  whole  world,  the 
innocent  with  the  guilty,  into  a  whirlwind  of  destruction? 
What  is  the  remedy?  Palliatives  there  may  be,  govern- 
mental arrangements,  legal  forms ;  but  at  bottom  we  know 
that  sane  and  sensible  and  just  relations  between  individ- 
uals or  races  or  nations  can  be  established  only  by  the  spread 
of  the  spirit  of  good  will,  along  with  the  realization  of  a 
great  fact.  I  mean  the  realization  of  the  human  fact,  the 
democratic  fact,  the  Christian  fact,  that  one  man's  degra- 
dation must  mean  ultimately  not  the  other  man's  exaltation, 
but  also  his  own  degradation;  that  one  race's  degradation 
must  mean  ultimately  not  the  other  race's  exaltation,  but 
also  its  own  degradation;  that  one  nation's  degradation 
must  mean  ultimately  not  the  other  nation's  exaltation,  but 
also  its  own  degradation. 

Is  not  this  the  lesson  which  we  have  all  got  to  learn? 
We  here  to-day,  in  this  brief  meeting,  are  engaged  on  this 
lesson.  We  are  thinking  especially  of  that  part  of  the  lesson 
which  providence  has  emphasized  in  our  corner  of  the 
■wrorld — namely,  that  neither  of  the  races  can  be  injured 
without  the  other's  injury,  that  the  real  advance  of  either 
must  redound  to  the  real  advance  of  the  other.  We  are  two 
races  set  side  by  side,  with  the  problem  before  us  of  living 
side  by  side  in  cooperation  and  fair  dealing  in  spite  of  all 
differences.  There  have  been  statesmen,  philosophers,  and 
scientists  who  maintained  that  this  is  impossible  as  a  per- 
manent relation  between  races  so  situated  and  so  different. 
There  are  many  to-day  who  still  hold  this  opinion.  But 
who  can  tell  the  future?     One  thing  we  know  now,  espe- 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OP  THE  NEGRO  321 

daily  now  in  this  present  time  of  stress,  that  cooperation 
and  fair  dealing  are  shown  to  be  the  better  way.  We  know 
that  so  long  as  we  are  actually  here  side  by  side  the  sen- 
sible way,  the  human  way,  the  just  way,  the  religious  way, 
is  to  live  not  in  ill  will,  but  in  good  will ;  not  in  strife,  but 
in  cooperation;  not  in  ignorance  and  disregard,  but  in 
understanding  and  sympathy.  If  we  follow  the  right  way 
as  we  see  it  now,  we  may  leave  the  results  and  the  future 
to  God.  Let  us  hope  that  this  meeting,  like  the  preceding 
meetings,  may  have  a  healthy  influence  in  strengthening 
the  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  good  feeling  and  right 
dealing. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NEGRO  AND  ITS 
BEARING  ON  HEALTH 

PROFESSOR  WILLUM  H.  HOLLOW  AY,  TALLADEGA  COLLEGE, 
TALLADEGA,  ALA. 

Nothing  you  say  to-day  is  true  about  all  negroes.  As 
Mr.  J.  B.  Earnest,  in  his  discussion  of  "The  Virginia  Ne- 
gro," points  out,  it  is  difficult  to  find  the  average  negro. 
There  is  "none  such,"  and  if  there  were,  not  everything 
you  say  of  him  would  be  true.  There  are  negroes  and 
negroes.  In  the  discussion  of  the  religious  life  of  the  negro, 
therefore,  one  must  understand  that  he  represents  all  shades 
of  belief,  belongs  to  all  kinds  of  churches,  and  worships  in 
all  kinds  of  ways;  his  tenets  range  from  new  thought  to 
f oot- washing ;  his  religious  expression  rises  to  the  height 
of  elaborate  ritualism  or  sinks  to  the  orgies  of  barbarism. 
But  no  matter  which  form  it  takes  the  world  pays  tribute 
to  the  negro  as  being  deeply  and  instinctively  religious. 
More  than  any  other  people,  perhaps,  he  takes  his  religion 
seriously. 

What  negro  shall  we  have  in  mind,  then,  as  we  discuss 
this  subject?  It  is  evident,  is  it  not,  that  we  would  con- 
sider it  an  insult  to  ask  how  the  religious  life  of  any  ad- 
vanced group  of  people  affects  their  health?  Such  a  query 
would  either  indict  the  content  of  their  religion  or  cast  a 

21 


322  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

question  on  their  intelligence.  We  cannot  have  in  mind, 
therefore,  the  more  advanced  negroes.  And  since  what  we 
say  would  not  be  true  of  the  average  negro,  even  if  we 
could  find  him,  it  must  follow  that  our  discussion  contem- 
plates the  negro  farthest  down — the  unreached  negro. 
Keep  in  mind,  therefore,  that  what  we  shall  say  applies  to 
this  group,  which  is,  to  be  sure,  the  largest  group  and  with 
whose  welfare  this  Conference  is  concerned.  I  stress  this 
because  it  is  the  delicate  point  in  all  our  race  discussions. 
There  is  nothing  the  negro  craves  more  than  that  all  men 
acknowledge  and  appreciate  personal  and  group  differ- 
ences, and  act  as  though  they  recognize  that  all  negroes 
are  not  bad,  as  the  negroes  recognize  that  all  other  men 
are  not  good. 

At  the  first  we  must  attempt  a  definition  of  religion  and 
find  how  it  applies  to  the  negro.  It  is  an  old  controversy, 
but  nearer  settlement  to-day,  I  believe,  than  ever  before. 
Is  it  a  system  of  belief,  expressing  itself  in  a  creed  or  dogma ; 
or  a  movement  of  the  emotions,  denoting  its  presence  by 
"rousement"  of  the  feelings ;  or  a  decision  of  the  will,  eventu- 
ating in  action?  Is  it  rationalistic,  mystic,  or  idealistic? 
We  haven't  time  for  the  controversy,  but  we  know  that  the 
first  has  had  little  place  in  the  negro's  religious  life.  Dogma 
has  gone  little  farther  than  .baptism,  and  the  idealism  of 
the  third  has  even  to-day  little  place  in  his  system.  The 
mysticism  and  emotionalism  of  the  second  have  been  the 
strong  points  of  his  religious  life.  This  is  not  strange,  for 
there  are  two  forces  that  have  made  for  him  the  groove 
along  which  he  has  traveled.  In  the  first  place,  he  is 
inheritor  of  the  confusion  on  this  point  that  has  come  down 
through  the  ages.  Religious  philosophy  prior  to  his  advent 
here  emphasizes  the  first  two — dogma  and  feeling — and  the 
latter  was  at  its  height  when  he  was  introduced  to  the  white 
man's  religion. 

In  the  second  place,  his  teaching  during  the  slavery 
regime  confined  itself  merely  to  the  formula  of  obedience 
to  master  and  mistress  and  not  to  steal  the  hogs  and 
chickens.  Left  thus  in  his  ignorance,  he  sought  and  found 
religious  expression  in  the  means  nearest  at  hand;  turned 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NEGRO  323 

loose  at  emancipation,  he  has  been  left  to  work  out  as  best 
he  could  his  religious  philosophy.  His  early  religious  lead- 
ers were  those  who  had  been  brought  out  of  slavery ;  strong 
characters  they  were,  having  remarkable  insight  into  spir- 
itual truth,  but  mystical  withal  and  keeping  alive  the  qual- 
ities which  were  peculiar  to  the  negro  and  which  had  given 
him  the  power  to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  slavery  period. 
His  later  religious  leaders  have,  for  the  most  part,  taken 
up  where  the  early  leaders  left  off  and  have  found  it  easier 
to  give  the  people  what  they  demanded  than  what  they 
need.  The  result  is  that  the  negro's  religion  is  still  largely 
a  matter  of  feeling.  Church  service  without  its  appeal  to 
the  emotion  is  tame;  sermons  without  the  rousements  are 
nothing  more  than  lectures,  and  the  preacher  who  cannot 
bring  the  shout  has  missed  his  collection  if  not  his  calling. 
There  is,  to  be  sure,  a  growing  appreciation  of  intelligent 
exposition  of  Scripture  and  a  welcoming  of  the  intellectual, 
but  it  must  still  be  accompanied  by  appeal  to  the  emotions 
or  it  fails  to  reach  the  negro  churchgoer.  The  logical  out- 
come of  this  system  is  that  preaching  has  come  to  be  the 
main  concern  of  the  negro  minister.  The  pulpit  is  the  cen- 
ter of  his  religious  activities ;  Sunday  is  his  day  of  achieve- 
ment. He  functions  fully  only  when  facing  a  congregation, 
and  his  great  success  is  achieved  when  by  devious  ways  he 
has  led  his  hearers  to  the  highest  pitch  of  emotional  excite^' 
ment. 

In  considering  the  negro's  religious  life  and  its  bearing 
on  health,  one  must  discuss  the  emotional  element  in  its 
relation  to  sex  life;  for  it  is  here  perhaps  that  the  negro 
meets  his  strongest  foe  and  his  most  outstanding  criticism. 
The  proverbial  immorality  of  the  negro  preacher  is  bound 
closer  to  the  emotional  element  in  his  religion  than  we  are 
wont  to  credit.  He  lives,  thinks,  and  acts  in  the  realm  of 
feeling;  his  greatest  asset  is  his  ability  to  stir  others  to 
the  depths  of  their  emotion. 

Now  we  are  finding  that  not  only  has  the  emotional  a 
large  place  in  religion,  but  that  sexual  life  plays  a  large 
part  or  maybe  is  the  very  root  from  which  religion  springs. 
Krafft  and  Ebing,  in  "Psychopathia  Sexualis,"  say:  "If  man 


324  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

were  deprived  of  sexual  distinction  and  the  noble  enjoy- 
ment arising  therefrom,  all  poetry  and  probably  all  moral 
tendency  would  be  eliminated  from  his  life.  Sexual  life  is 
the  one  mighty  factor  in  the  individual  and  social  relations 
of  man  which  discloses  his  powers  of  activity,  of  acquiring 
property,  of  establishing  a  home,  of  awakening  altruistic 
sentiments  toward  the  opposite  sex  and  toward  his  own 
issue,  as  well  as  toward  the  whole  human  race.  Sex  feeling 
is  really  the  root  of  all  ethics,  and  no  doubt  of  sestheticism 
and  religion.  The  sublimest  virtues,  even  sacrifice  of  self, 
spring  from  sexual  life,  which,  however,  on  account  of  its 
sexual  power,  may  easily  degenerate  into  the  lowest  pas- 
sion and  basest  vice." 

If  this  is  true — and  the  better  psychology  seems  to  prove 
it — then  the  sexual  excesses  of  the  negro  take  on  new  mean- 
ing. We  have  seen  that  by  nature  the  negro  is  highly  emo- 
tional. Climatic  conditions  in  Africa  produced  in  him  what 
the  tropics  produce  in  all  tropical  people.  His  life  in  his 
new  home  under  slavery  fostered  the  traits  which  he 
brought  over;  and  his  introduction  to  the  white  man's  re- 
ligion gave  opportunity  for  the  development  and  exercise 
of  only  one  element,  the  emotional,  which  is  twin  brother  to 
the  sexual.  The  church,  which  was  and  still  is  the  center 
and  controlling  influence  of  all  his  activities,  having  as  its 
#»rimary  function  preaching,  which  as  an  art  finds  its  seat 
in  the  imagination,  has  no  doubt  helped  to  intensify  the  im- 
moral, which  its  purpose  is  to  rectify  and  cure. 

This  is  an  awful  statement  to  make,  I  know.  But  those 
of  us  acquainted  with  the  inner  side  of  the  negro's  religious 
and  church  life  know  that  much  immorality  finds  its  setting 
in  a  religious  atmosphere  and  has  its  background  over 
against  the  excitement  of  the  meetinghouse.  I  have  had 
white  ministers  tell  me  that  the  abandonment  of  their  old 
camp  meetings  was  due  to  the  evils  of  this  sort  as  much  as 
to  any  other  cause.  And  it  used  to  be  remarked  that  more 
illegitimate  children  could  be  traced  to  the  season  of  the 
annual  revival  than  any  other  part  of  the  year.  Now,  if 
these  things  are  true,  I  think  we  must  conclude  that  the 
evils  which  have  been  laid  at  the  negro's  door  are  closely 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NEGRO  325 

bound  up  with  his  religious  life.  Conditions  over  which  he 
has  had  little  or  no  control  have  stressed  only  one  element 
in  religion  which  we  know  has  been  the  stone  of  stumbling 
for  other  people  in  the  world's  history  as  well  as  for  him. 
The  bearing  of  this  fact  upon  health  is  far-reaching. 

We  are  coming  to  see  that  health  is,  after  all,  largely  a 
question  of  good  morals;  and  the  moral  and  ethical  are  the 
primary  concepts  of  religion.  Reputable  doctors  tell  me 
that  fifty  per  cent  of  the  men  who  come  under  their  care 
show  evidences  of  some  form  of  venereal  diseases.  Less 
than  four  months  ago  a  theological  student  in  a  certain 
seminary  was  found  dead  in  bed  and  on  examination  for 
the  cause  the  doctors  testified  that  he  had  contracted,  in  his 
early  years,  the  disease  which  carried  him  out.  Those  who 
knew  him  and  taught  him  tell  me  that  his  ideals  were  lofty 
and  his  life's  purpose  fixed  and  of  excellent  promise;  but 
nature's  laws  are  inexorable,  and  religion  could  not  set  aside 
their  direful  consequences.  I  know  another  student  of  ex- 
cellent family,  bright  and  promising,  who  stood  high  in  his 
classes,  and  the  leader  in  student  activities  in  his  college, 
respected  and  loved  by  his  teachers ;  but  one  day  he  showed 
signs  of  mental  aberration,  which  grew  worse  and  worse 
until  he  had  to  be  sent  to  the  State  sanitarium  for  the  insane. 
Here  less  than  a  month  later  he  died.  The  doctor  had  the 
same  old  story — in  the  brain  a  lesion  of  syphilitic  origin. 

But  the  race  is  not  so  fortunate  as  to  have  all  of  its 
derelicts  die.  The  sins  of  the  fathers  are  visited  upon  the 
children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation.  The  most 
damnable  sin  of  our  American  civilization  is  found  in  its 
social  diseases.  Recent  studies  of  the  army  and  navy  show 
that  sixty-fivp  per  cent  of  all  applicants  for  enlistment  show 
presence  of  venereal  diseases.  The  negro  has  taken  on  all 
that  American  life  has  to  offer  of  this  sort. 

Another  alarming  symptom  is  the  growing  number  of 
operations  upon  negro  women.  Here,  too,  the  physicians 
testify  that  seventy  per  cent  find  their  cause  in  sexual  ex- 
cesses, abuses,  and  venereal  diseases. 


326  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

I  live  in  the  town  where  are  situated  the  State  institu- 
tions for  the  blind  of  both  races ;  and  as  I  see  the  hundreds 
with  bent  forms,  pitiful  faces,  and  sightless  eyes,  I  cannot 
help  asking  the  old  unanswered  but  bitter  question,  "Who 
did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents?" 

Another  cause  of  ill  health  which  grows  out  of  the 
negro's  religious  life  is  the  length  of  his  religious  services. 
There  are  few  negro  churches,  rural  or  urban,  where  the 
services  do  not  continue  anywhere  from  two  to  four  hours^ 
It  might  be  well  for  the  cold,  solid  New  Englander  of  Jona- 
than Edwards's  time  to  sit  for  half  a  day  listening  to  the 
expounding  of  Scripture,  but  for  the  emotional  negro  it  is 
a  strain  upon  the  nervous  system,  a  drain  upon  physical 
vitality,  and,  usually  lacking  in  appeal  to  the  intellect,  it 
makes  for  mental  lassitude.  No  reform  is  more  needed  in 
our  churches  than  at  this  point.  The  establishment  of  well- 
balanced  forms  of  worship  would  make  for  reasonable 
length  of  service,  besides  lessening  the  possibilities  of  emo- 
tional excitement  now  so  prevalent. 

Akin  to  this  are  the  ill  effects  that  grow  out  of  the  com- 
mon type  of  church  architecture  and  its  appointments. 
Overcrowding  in  buildings  where  windows  are  nailed  down, 
or  the  wooden  shutters  kept  closed  in  cold  weather,  where 
light  is  inadequate  and  where  the  benches  are  the  crude, 
hand-made  type,  all  make  for  lowered  vitality  and  easy 
inroads  to  disease. 

The  negro's  religion  has  made  much  of  the  future  life. 
His  slave-time  songs  embody  the  best  the  world  has  thought 
and  felt  on  the  subject  of  immortality;  and  his  quaint  old 
prayers  scintillate  with  the  glories  of  freedom.  It  is  no 
wonder,  then,  that  the  present  should  be  ignored  for  the 
future,  that  earth  should  be  given  up  for  heaven.  The  in- 
dustrial and  economic  propaganda  of  the  last  twenty-five 
years  has  done  much  to  correct  this,  but  signs  of  it  are  still 
prevalent. 

Doctors  find  it  hard  to  make  their  colored  patients  carry 
out  the  simplest  rules  of  health  which  science  now  lays  down. 
Flies,  mosquitoes,  and  germs  are  often  laughed  out  of  mind. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  THE  NEGRO  327 

and  conjuration  is  more  powerful  than  medical  science.  Two 
deaths  have  come  under  my  knowledge  within  the  past  ten 
days  where  the  doctors  could  not  overcome  the  supersti- 
tions of  the  past.  Fatalism  and  "what  is  to  be  will  be"  still 
disregard  sanitation,  hygiene,  and  medical  therapeutics. 

Now  you  ask  if  I  hold  that  religion  is  responsible  for  all 
this,  and  I  answer:  "In  some  cases,  yes;  in  others  it  is  the 
lack  of  a  well-balanced  religion."  No  one  denies  that  the 
most  effective  method  of  preserving  health  is  through  moral 
teaching,  and  the  primary  concept  of  Christianity  is  its 
ethics.  Hitch  this  up  with  the  intellect  and  let  both  be 
charged  with  the  fervor  of  the  emotional,  and  you  have  a 
Christian — mens  sana  in  corpore  sano. 

What  are  we  to  do  about  it?  How  can  we  balance  the 
negro's  religious  life  and  thus  fit  him  for  rendering  his 
quota  to  our  American  life  ?  My  program  contains  one  item : 
shift  the  present  emphasis  in  negro  education!  There  are 
many  of  us  who  look  with  alarm  upon  the  almost  exclusive 
emphasis  upon  the  industrial  and  utilitarian.  Public  edu- 
cation in  the  South  and  private  foundations  show  tenden- 
cies to  turn  the  negro  schools  into  cooking  centers  and  can- 
ning factories.  Two  kinds  of  education  are  growing  up,  a 
black  and  a  white,  which  tend  to  accent  the  differences  and 
widen  the  breach  between  man  and  man.  The  first  contem- 
plates the  making  of  a  whole  man,  while  the  second  contem- 
plates the  making  of  only  a  half  man.  The  one  supplements 
its  cultural  education  with  vocational  activities,  aiming 
thereby  to  make  a  life ;  the  other  substitutes  for  its  cultural 
the  industrial  pursuits,  saying  that  what  you  need  is  a 
living. 

What  the  negro  educator  fears  is  that  this  is  going  to 
be  worse  for  the  negro's  religious  life  than  the  one-sided 
emotionalism  of  the  old  system.  We  know  and  appreciate 
the  value  of  the  utilitarian  in  the  negro's  present  state ;  but 
when  it  is  stressed  almost  exclusively  in  its  relation  to  the 
material,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  spiritual,  we  fear  for  the 
future  of  the  negro.  Everybody  now  confesses  that  the 
negro's  religious  and  moral  progress  has  been  nothing  like 


328  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

commensurate  with  his  material  and  educational.  And  yet 
we  are  not  far-sighted  enough  to  see  that  the  present  educa- 
tional propaganda  tends  to  accentuate  and  accelerate  the  dis- 
parity. The  negro  needs  money,  houses,  and  lands,  to  be 
sure,  but  he  needs  ideals  more. 

We  need  none  the  less  of  vocational  guidance,  but  more 
of  education  that  makes  for  integrity  of  life,  which  is  health. 
The  negro  college  must  go  side  by  side  with  the  industrial 
school.  The  old  type  of  preacher  must  give  way  to  the  newer 
educated  type,  trained  in  college  and  seminary. 

If  the  South  could  be  brought  to  see  this  need  and  a 
few  more  Southern  men  won  to  the  championship  of  the 
cause,  the  next  generation  would  see  little  need  for  asking 
how  the  negro's  religious  life  affects  his  health. 


THE  NEGRO  CHURCH  AS  THE  GUARDIAN  OF  PUBLIC 

HEALTH 

RICHARD  CARROLL,  D.D.,  COLUMBIA,  S.  C 

The  church  that  has  the  Bible  as  the  basis  of  its  service 
must  be  vitally  interested  in  public  health.  It  is  impossible 
to  read  the  first  books  of  the  Old  Testament  without  being 
impressed  with  the  multitude  of  laws  established  for  the 
guarding  of  the  physical  welfare  of  the  people.  Turning  to 
the  New  Testament,  we  are  almost  startled  at  the  time  and 
strength  Jesus  gave  to  the  healing  of  the  sick.  So  promi- 
nent was  that  part  of  his  work  that  all  the  world  delights  to 
speak  of  him  as  the  Great  Physician.  The  Bible  is  a  book 
that  exalts  the  human  body,  demanding  that  it  be  as  zeal- 
ously cared  for  as  the  holy  temple,  for  it  is  the  temple  of 
God.  Clearly  it  is  a  Christian's  task,  and  so  the  church's 
task,  to  be  the  guardian  of  public  health. 

Only  recently  I  made  an  appeal  to  a  church  group  that 
the  school  board  might  be  aroused  to  have  dental  inspection 
of  all  the  pupils  in  the  public  school  and  such  treatment 
given  as  was  necessary.  The  basis  of  that  appeal  was  that 
there  is  a  close  relation  between  bad  teeth  and  dyspepsia, 


NEGRO  CHURCH  AS  GUARDIAN  OF  PUBLIC  HEALTH       329 

between  dyspepsia  and  religious  temperament,  and  between 
religious  temperament  and  true  spirituality  of  life.  The  ap- 
peal was  challenged  by  a  minister,  who  insisted  that  the 
pulpit  was  no  place  for  the  discussion  of  that  subject  and 
that  only  "the  gospel"  should  be  preached  from  that  sacred 
place.  He  assured  us  that  any  other  preaching  would  not 
be  tolerated  by  the  officials  of  the  church. 

Each  year,  however,  there  is  an  increasing  number  of 
ministers  who,  while  they  acknowledge  it  is  a  Christian  duty 
to  hold  a  funeral,  think  it  infinitely  more  Christian  to  pre- 
vent a  funeral. 

To  those  who  say,  "Preach  the  gospel,"  say,  "By  all 
means  let  us  preach  the  gospel,"  the  good  news  of  Him  who 
went  about  doing  good.  But  pause  for  a  moment  by  the 
building  that  marks  the  site  of  the  village  of  Nain.  Picture 
again  to  your  mind  that  scene  in  the  life  of  the  Great  Phy- 
sician. The  despair  of  a  broken-hearted  mother  moved  him 
to  action.  Two  things  were  accomplished  that  day :  a  sor- 
rowing mother  was  comforted,  a  young  man  was  granted  a 
longer  lease  of  life.  These  were  the  tokens  of  a  sympathetic 
heart.  This  same  friend  of  mankind  gave  the  following 
promise:  "Greater  things  than  these  will  ye  do."  And  so 
we  have  a  more  modern  instance  of  the  lengthening  of  the 
lease  of  life. 

The  babies  of  New  York  were  dying  at  a  frightful  rate 
in  the  poorer  districts.  One  of  the  race  of  our  Saviour, 
Nathan  Strauss,  established  pure  milk  stations.  A  fortune 
was  spent  in  this  kind  service.  The  work  has  been  taken  up 
by  others,  with  the  result  recorded  in  the  Ohio  State  Bul- 
letin of  Health:  "In  New  York  City  a  child  under  five  years 
of  age  thirty  years  ago  had  a  life  expectancy  of  forty-one 
years,  while  at  the  present  time  the  expectancy  of  such  a. 
child  is  fifty-two  years.  The  increase  in  life  expectancy  is 
therefore  approximately  eleven  years."  What  Jesus  did  in, 
the  case  of  one  young  man  by  lengthening  the  life  period  is 
now  done  in  thousands  of  cases  because  of  the  services  of 
those  who  have  been  moved  by  the  spirit  of  sympathy  and 
love.    Let  us  preach  more  earnestly,  more  sanely  than  ever 


330  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  gospel  of  him  who  healed  the  sick  and  who  closed  his  life 
with  the  simple  command,  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me, 
even  so  send  I  you." 

Every  grave  that  is  dug  for  the  burial  of  one  who  died 
of  a  preventable  disease  is  a  challenge  to  the  clergyman  who 
stands  by  that  grave  and  performs  the  last  rite  of  burial. 
No  matter  how  careful  we  are,  that  event  must  occur;  but 
it  is  our  duty  to  defer  it  to  as  late  a  date  as  possible.  In- 
creasingly ministers  are  accepting  that  challenge. 

But  let  us  recognize  frankly  that  the  church  is  not  to 
become  the  bureau  of  health  and  the  minister  the  public 
health  officer.  President  Wilson  put  the  matter  straight 
when  he  said  at  the  meeting  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America  recently  held  in  Columbus, 
"I  do  not  want  any  church  to  run  the  community,  but  I  do 
want  it  to  help  the  community  run  itself."  Public  health  is 
primarily  a  community  and  inter-community  problem. 

In  Topeka,  Kans.,  the  Federation  of  Churches  initiated 
a  movement  which  resulted  in  our  having  a  sanitary  survey 
made  and  published  by  Mr.  Franz  Schneider,  of  the  Russell 
Sage  Foundation.  This  survey  revealed  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  residence  district  with  a  population  of  9,000  persons 
without  waterworks  or  sewers.  Repeated  efforts  to  secure 
this  service  so  vital  to  public  health  had  met  with  failure 
because  of  the  antagonism  of  the  taxpayers.  Not  until  this 
survey  was  made  and  the  facts  set  forth  in  charts  promi- 
nently displayed  were  property  owners  willing  to  pay  the 
cost  of  making  the  necessary  improvements. 

Public  opinion  is  the  power  back  of  the  law  which  it 
enforces.  The  Church  is  one  of  the  forces  of  the  community 
which  must  accept  the  responsibility  of  helping  the  "com- 
munity to  run  itself."  The  church  can  help  create  the  pub- 
lic opinion  which  will  become  "the  strong  conviction  of  a 
strong  majority,"  and  which  will  put  the  health  of  the  com- 
munity above  the  temporary  prosperity  of  taxpayers  and 
greed  of  public  grafters. 

A  few  types  of  service  which  the  church  may  perform 
will  suffice.    The  first  is  that  which  looks  to  immediate  relief. 


NEGRO  CHURCH  AS  GUARDIAN  OF  PUBLIC  HEALTH       331 

This  was  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus. 
In  his  brief  period  of  service  he  could  not  train  his  disciples 
in  details.  He  could  only  give  the  spirit  that  would  in  time 
work  out  these  details.  Let  us  take  the  concrete  case  where 
the  church  helped.  Again  I  quote  statistics  relating  to 
Topeka  because  of  my  personal  knowledge  of  the  situation. 
Similar  facts  can  be  gathered  from  many  cities.  In  1913 
during  the  months  of  May,  June,  July,  and  August  fifty- 
three  babies  died  under  two  years  of  age.  Some  would  ex- 
plain these  deaths  as  "visitations  of  Providence."  During 
the  same  months  of  1914  thirty-four  babies  died.  Why  the 
difference?  Note  the  causes.  In  1913  twenty-eight  babies 
died  of  diarrhoea  and  enteritis;  in  1914  only  four  died  of 
the  same  diseases,  a  difference  of  twenty-four.  How  do 
you  account  for  this?  Was  God  less  busy  killing  babies? 
(This  is  stating  bluntly  what  some  people  put  into  tradi- 
tional phraseology.)  No.  Certain  sensible  people  who  had 
taken  seriously  the  commission  of  Christ  to  continue  his 
work  formed  and  maintained  a  public  nursing  association. 
They  employed  a  trained  nurse,  who  with  her  assistants 
looked  after  the  sick  babies.  A  milk  station  was  installed 
in  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church.  One  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  babies  were  thus  ministered  to.  This  care  not  only  re- 
duced the  death  rate,  but  prevented  the  enfeeblement  which 
follows  the  needless  illness  which,  measured  by  human  suf- 
fering, is  often  worse  than  death. 

Let  the  Church  concern  itself  with  immediate  evils  and 
provide  what  remedy  is  possible.  At  the  same  time  let  it 
look  to  the  conditions  that  bring  about  illness  and  death — 
e.  g.,  greed,  poverty,  and  ignorance. 

The  United  States  Children's  Bureau  investigated  the 
causes  of  death  of  babies  in  Johnstown,  Pa.  "Employment 
of  mothers  in  heavy  work,  artificial  feeding,  poor  sanitary 
conditions,  and  insufficient  earnings  of  fathers  are  shown 
to  have  an  important  influence  on  infant  mortality."  The 
infant  death  rate  varied  in  different  parts  of  the  same  city. 
In  the  poorest  sections,  where  insanitary  conditions  were  at 
their  worst,  the  rate  was  271  per  thousand  babies,  or  more 
than  five  times  that  in  the  better  residential  sections.    As  to 


332  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

wages,  the  statistics  show  the  death  rate  of  babies  to  be 
in  inverse  proportion  to  the  earnings  of  the  fathers.  In 
families  ivhere  the  fathers  earned  less  than  $10  a  week  the 
infant  mortality  rate  was  256  per  thousand;  in  cases  ivhere 
fathers  earned  $25  or  more  a  week  the  death  rate  was  only 
84  per  thousand.  We  see  that  the  industrial  problem  is  a 
public  health  problem  also.  The  Church  can  render  no  finer 
service  to  the  community  than  to  develop  a  partnership  with 
industrial  leaders  both  of  capital  and  labor  in  maintaining 
the  health  and  efficiency  of  present  and  prospective  work- 
ers. If  it  is  worth  while  financially  for  the  great  insurance 
companies  writing  industrial  insurance  to  do  this,  surely  it 
is  worth  while  spiritually  for  the  church  to  do  it. 

Another  service  the  Church  can  render  is  arousing  the 
public  to  demand  the  securing  of  the  very  best  health  of- 
ficers. There  is  no  greater  weakness  in  the  whole  disease- 
preventing  program  of  to-day  than  here.  For  two  years  a 
number  of  us  studied  the  problem  of  the  whole-time  health 
officer.  A  bill  was  drafted  which  met  the  approval  of  the 
leading  sanitarians  of  the  country  and  of  the  officers  of  the 
United  States  Public  Health  Service.  This  bill  provides  for 
the  dividing  of  the  State  of  Kansas  into  thirty  sanitary  dis- 
tricts, each  district  to  have  an  all-time  health  officer  who  is 
to  be  paid  a  good  salary  and  given  definite  power  backed  by 
the  full  authority  of  counties  and  State.  The  bill  received 
a  good  vote  in  the  last  legislature,  and  will  be  pushed  until 
it  or  a  similar  bill  is  passed. 

What  is  the  condition  to-day?  In  a  time  when  we  know 
so  much  about  prevention  we  find  it  quite  the  custom  in 
many  places  to  bid  off  the  office  of  guardian  of  the  public 
health  to  the  doctor  who  will  do  the  work  for  the  smallest 
salary.  What  a  howl  and  cry  would  be  raised  by  business 
men  and  property  holders  if  it  were  proposed  to  secure  fire 
protection  by  this  method !  Is  not  the  health  of  the  people 
who  live  in  the  homes  of  more  importance  than  the  buildings 
in  which  they  live?  The  Church  must  make  men  think 
more  in  terms  of  human  life  than  in  bank  accounts.  When 
this  is  done  no  community  will  tolerate  conditions  which 
exist  in  most  cities  and  counties  to-day. 


NEGRO  CHURCH  AS  GUARDIAN  OF  PUBLIC  HEALTH       333 

One  other  phase  of  this  problem  needs  only  to  be  men- 
tioned to  make  clear  the  task  of  the  Church.  I  refer  to  the 
drink  problem,  the  curse  of  intemperance.  Let  me  quote 
from  a  letter  written  to  Hon.  Sam  L.  Rogers,  Director  of  the 
Bureau  of  the  Census,  Washington,  D.  C,  by  the  State  Reg- 
istrar of  Kansas.  This  letter  is  an  explanation  of  the  low 
death  rate  in  Kansas :  "Kansas  is  a  prohibition  State  and  has 
been  for  a  generation,  and  in  Kansas  prohibition  really  pro- 
hibits. I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  there  is  no  alcohol  con- 
sumed in  the  State,  but  the  absence  of  the  saloon  means  much 
to  our  growing  young  men  and  boys  who,  in  the  absence  of 
the  barroom,  find  more  healthful  pastimes  than  loafing  in  an 
alcohol-laden  atmosphere,  and  there  is  an  absence  of  oppor- 
tunity to  poison  the  body  with  the  toxins  of  alcohol  which 
will  be  sure  to  show  in  those  organic  diseases  which  are 
laiown  to  be  affected  by  alcohol.  .  .  .  Another  and  more 
important  effect  of  prohibition  is  that  the  wage  of  the 
laborer  or  mechanic  is  not  dissipated  but  goes  to  supply 
those  necessities  of  food,  clothing,  and  housing  most  essen- 
tial to  the  well-being  of  their  families  and  themselves." 

As  has  already  been  stated,  public  health  is  primarily  a 
community  problem.  The  Church,  having  ever  in  mind  the 
definite  function  it  must  perform  as  the  body  of  Christ,  doing 
what  he  would  do  in  that  community,  seeking  the  building 
up  of  the  life  of  the  spirit,  must  determine  what  method 
will  secure  the  best  result.  It  is  evident  that  this  is  not  a 
denominational  problem.  All  are  concerned.  To  make  this 
service  effective  it  must  be  a  united  service.  Heretofore 
churches  have  been  afraid  to  cooperate  because  of  what  they 
might  be  compelled  to  give  up.  This  task  is  not  a  case  of 
giving  up  something,  but  of  giving  something.  What  a 
power  the  Church  has  been  in  temperance  campaigns,  be- 
cause it  has  presented  a  united  front.  That  same  method 
of  warfare  will  make  it  possible  to  alter  other  conditions 
which  undermine  health  or  cause  needless  deaths,  resulting 
in  countless  spiritual  catastrophes. 

Too  long  the  Church  has  tried  to  remedy  community  evils 
by  guerrilla  methods.  The  high-minded  preacher  has  been 
so  stirred  by  what  his  pastoral  work  has  revealed  that  he 


334  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

has  had  to  do  what  he  could.  As  a  rule  he  is  unable  to  meet 
the  counter  attack  of  intrenched  vicious  forces.  Sometimes 
even  his  church  has  arrayed  itself  against  him.  These  at- 
tacks have  served  their  purpose.  To-day  in  scores  of  cities 
over  the  country  the  churches  are  united  for  action.  The 
good  results  following  united  evangelistic  campaigns  and 
temperance  fights  have  revealed  such  possibilities  of  union 
that  as  never,before  the  church  is  being  prepared  to  take  up 
the  task  of  being  the  guardian  of  the  public  health.  ThQ 
recently  formed  Commission  on  Federated  Movements  of  the 
Federal  Council  is  unable  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon 
it  by  communities  North  and  South,  East  and  West,  which 
wish  to  profit  by  the  experiences  of  other  cities. 

If  the  Church  in  any  city  is  to  be  the  body  of  Christ,  we 
must  speed  the  day  when  there  will  be  such  unity  of  spirit 
and  unity  of  action  that  we  can  once  more  speak  of  the 
Church  in  Corinth,  the  Church  in  St.  Louis,  the  Church  in 
Atlanta,  the  Church  in  New  Orleans.  Jesus  prayed  that 
this  might  be.  In  service  of  mankind,  united  with  him,  we 
will  be  united  with  one  another,  and  once  more  the  Great 
Physician  will  walk  in  our  midst  as  we  reveal  him  in  his 
revealing  service. 


THE  NEGRO  HOME  AND  THE  FUTURE  OF  THE 

RACE 

MRS.  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON,  TUSKEGEE,  ALA. 

If  we  can  rely  upon  statistics,  there  are  in  our  country 
more  than  ten  millions  of  colored  people.  Fortunately  for 
us,  we  are  unequally  divided  between  the  larger  cities  and 
towns  and  country  districts,  twenty-seven  per  cent  making 
our  homes  in  the  cities  and  towns,  thus  leaving  seventy- 
three  per  cent  to  the  country  and  its  farm  lands,  where,  in 
my  opinion,  we  are  destined  to  work  out  our  own  salvation 
on  a  basis  of  good  health  and  general  usefulness. 

Those  of  us  who  have  the  interest  of  the  race  at  heart 
in  any  large  and  broad  sense  believe  that  the  natural  and 
best  place  for  the  great  bulk  of  our  people  is  not  in  the 


THE  NEGRO  HOME  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE  335 

cities  nor  in  the  towns,  but  out  on  the  great  farms  where 
already  we  own  212,507  homes.  From  1900  to  1910  there 
was  an  increase  of  more  than  sixteen  per  cent  in  the  num- 
ber of  these  owned  rural  homes.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
note  that  out  of  the  212,507  homes  owned,  152,047,  or  more 
than  seventy-one  per  cent,  were  in  no  way  encumbered  by 
debt. 

In  the  cities  of  the  South  the  colored  people,  according 
to  these  same  statistics,  own  217,942  homes;  for  the  entire 
South  the  colored  people  own  one  home  to  every  twenty  per- 
sons. It  is  poor  taste  to  boast  ever,  and  too  much  boasting 
in  matters  of  this  kind  has  already  been  done;  but  this  is 
not  a  poor  showing  for  a  people  who  started  out  not  more 
than  fifty  years  ago  with  no  homes  at  all.  The  colored  man 
and  his  family  living  in  the  country  districts  must  be  en- 
couraged to  buy  more  land,  to  build  larger  and  better  homes, 
to  understand  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  attempt  to  rear  his 
children  in  a  home  without  pictures,  without  music,  without 
papers,  magazines,  with  little  or  no  consideration  for  the 
number  of  children  in  his  family  to  be  accounted  for  as  to 
room,  place  at  the  table,  and  the  conveniences  necessary  in 
building  up  a  happy  and  substantial  family. 

Here  is  where  the  minister  and  the  teacher  in  the  coun- 
try districts  can  do  and  are  doing  effective  work  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  the  schoolroom,  which  more  than  ever  is  be- 
coming the  social  center  of  the  life  of  the  people  in  the  coun- 
try; but  neither  the  colored  preacher  nor  the  teacher  can 
do  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  done  to  bring  about  a  condi- 
tion of  contentment  which  will  make  the  colored  man  and 
woman  build  more  and  better  homes  on  the  farms  than  they 
are  now  doing. 

Good  roads  are  a  most  important  factor  in  giving  an 
impetus  for  decent  homes,  and  just  now  many  of  our  South- 
ern States  are  taking  a  deeper  interest  in  building  up  good 
roads.  To  be  sure  the  automobiles  have  made  this  a  neces- 
sity; but  whatever  has  done  it,  the  fact  that  we  are  going 
to  have  good  roads  is  going  to  play  an  important  part  in 
encouraging  the  colored  people  to  remain  in  the  country 


336  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

and  to  build  up  not  only  the  land  but  the  houses.  Good 
roads  are  already  reducing  the  amount  of  prejudice  which 
young  people,  especially,  have  for  country  life;  good  roads 
will  mean  the  bringing  nearer  to  the  people  their  schools, 
their  Sunday  schools,  their  churches,  and  their  neighbors 
also. 

The  average  colored  home  in  the  country  at  the  present 
sends  its  children  to  school  for  not  more  than  three  months 
out  of  the  twelve,  and  this  is  true  largely  because  the  roads 
are  not  built  up  and  are  not  kept  in  good  condition  for 
traveling.  The  average  country  home  sends  its  children  to 
Sunday  school  not  more  than  six  months  out  of  the  twelve 
for  the  same  reason;  the  men  and  the  women  from  these 
homes  attend  church  only  a  part  of  the  year  because  so 
often  the  roads  are  impassable  and  too  little  or  no  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  the  satisfaction  which  comes  to  people  be- 
cause they  can  mingle  at  church,  at  school,  at  Sunday  school, 
and  at  the  homes  of  their  friends. 

A  few  years  ago  I  became  interested  in  the  women  on 
a  large  Southern  plantation.  The  plantation  had  been  in 
one  family  for  nearly  eighty  years,  having  been  handed 
down  from  one  son  to  another ;  the  people  on  that  plantation 
during  the  months  of  December,  January,  February,  and 
March  could  not  and  did  not  cross  a  certain  creek  because 
there  was  no  bridge.  There  was  no  intercourse  between  the 
two  sides;  the  life  of  the  people  living  on  each  side  of  the 
creek  was  one  of  almost  miserable  isolation,  and  the  owner 
of  that  farm  used  to  say:  "These  people  are  just  like  chil- 
dren ;  they  are  eternally  ready  to  move ;  they  are  never  satis- 
fied; they  are  so  restless."  It  was  many  years  before  he 
could  be  made  to  realize  that  these  people  were  exactly  like 
all  people :  they  wanted  to  see  and  to  be  with  their  friends. 
They  needed  contact  as  all  other  people  do,  and  when  long" 
years  since  the  son  of  this  man  took  up  the  place  he  more 
readily  saw  that  he  owed  it  to  his  tenants  to  build  a  bridge 
across  the  creek  so  that  people  could  pass  back  and  forth 
any  time  they  wished.  The  building  of  that  bridge  changed 
the  entire  life  of  the  place,  and,  more  than  this,  it  has- 


THE  NEGRO  HOME  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE  337 

changed  the  very  character  of  the  men  and  women  on  the 
plantation. 

We  will  increase  the  number  of  homes  for  colored  peo- 
ple in  the  country  districts  by  increasing  their  love  for  the 
country,  remembering  that  we  can  increase  the  love  of  the 
people  for  life  in  the  country  by  building  up  the  waste  places, 
laying  off  the  roads,  building  bridges,  etc.,  which  will  mean 
longer  school  terms  and  more  frequent  attendance  upon 
church  and  other  religious  and  social  gatherings. 

A  cleaner  and  more  intelligent  and  practical  ministry 
for  the  country  pulpit  is  also  necessary ;  a  ministry  which, 
although  it  can  make  its  congregation  imagine  that  they  are 
walking  on  golden  streets,  or  drinking  milk  and  eating  honey, 
will  also  make  the  congregation  see  that  the  cultivation 
of  corn  must  not  be  neglected,  and  that,  although  milk  and 
honey  are  very  good  things  when  one  is  in  a  certain  condi- 
tion, they  are  not  at  all  the  things  which  one  needs  when  he 
has  to  do  a  full  day's  work.  There  must  be  the  training  in 
the  schoolroom  in  matters  of  cooking,  washing,  ironing, 
sewing,  sweeping,  dusting,  cleaning  in  general,  that  will 
bring  the  school  and  the  home  on  the  same  plane,  so  that 
the  two  may  work  in  harmony  and  not  in  opposition. 

We  must  not  forget  the  social  life  of  the  people  living 
in  the  country  districts.  Books,  music,  games,  as  well  as 
the  old  picnics,  must  be  encouraged,  if  the  people  are  to 
remain  in  the  country  districts  and  build  up  their  homes  as 
they  should;  and  the  teacher  niust  be  that  sort  of  teacher 
who  will  take  an  interest"  in  this  side  of  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity. The  course  of  study  in  the  country  schools  should 
never  overlook  the  matter  of  the  selection,  preparation,  and 
serving  of  food.  Too  much  attention  must  not  be  paid  to 
the  making  of  candy,  cake,  etc.,  but  more  attention  must 
be  paid  to  the  making  of  bread  and  the  cooking  of  such 
vegetables  as  are  easily  raised  on  any  land  here  in  the  South. 
Sewing  for  the  girls  should  not  be  neglected  in  the  country 
schools,  as  every  colored  girl  should  be  taught  to  make  her 
own  simple  garments,  at  least  an  ordinary  shirt  waist  suit. 

22 


338  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

We  often  hear  it  said  that  the  South  will  blossom  as  a 
rose.  Those  of  us  who  live  here  in  the  South  and  who  under- 
stand each  other  (and  many  of  us  do  understand  each  other) 
know  that  there  is  no  more  beautiful  land  anywhere,  news- 
papers to  the  contrary  notwithstanding;  and  we  realize  that 
the  people  of  the  South  are  kindly  disposed  one  toward  the 
other  and  are  quick  to  lend  a  helping  hand  and  quick  to  feel 
each  others'  burdens.  We  know  that  our  landscapes  are 
beautiful,  that  nowhere  do  the  stars  shine  brighter  than 
right  here  in  our  beautiful  South ;  but  this  land  of  ours  will 
never  blossom  as  a  rose,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word, 
until  its  colored  citizens  in  a  larger  number  as  well  as  the 
whites  are  more  comfortably  situated  and  housed.  A  crop 
finds  it  hard  to  grow  in  grass  and  weeds ;  so  a  soul  finds  it 
difficult  to  develop  its  fullest  when  it  lives  in  squalor  and 
filth. 

What  is  true  of  the  colored  people  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts may  well  be  said  of  them  and  their  homes  in  the 
larger  cities  and  towns  of  the  South.  To  be  sure  there  are 
many  well-to-do  colored  families  all  over  the  South  who  live 
in  and  own  well  furnished  homes  sufficiently  large  and  com- 
fortable, but  these  are  the  select  few.  A  larger  number  of 
our  people  in  the  cities  live  in  neighborhoods  unprotected 
by  police  supervision,  on  streets  poorly  lighted,  in  houses 
with  only  two  or  three  rooms,  and  are  worse  off  by  far,  both 
physically  and  morally,  than  their  country  brother  and  sister 
in  the  same  circumstances;  for  the  latter  have  the  air  and 
the  sunshine  which  are  quit^  as  necessary  for  the  moral  life 
of  man  as  for  his  physical  being.  If  the  authorities  of  our 
Southern  cities  would  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that 
we  are  really  a  part  of  the  body  politic  and  that,  although 
we  are  a  distinct  race  with  perhaps  some  distinct  traits  and 
characteristics,  we  have  many  things  in  common  with  al} 
the  other  citizens  of  the  community,  and  one  of  these  is  a 
love  of  family  life,  a  desire  and  yearning  to  bring  our  chil- 
dren up  in  a  wholesome  and  clean  atmosphere,  a  growing 
desire  to  create  for  ourselves  an  ideal  which  expresses  itself 
more  and  more  in  decent  living,  our  homes  and  the  future 
of  our  race  and  of  both  races  would  be  happier. 


THE  NEGRO  HOME  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE  339 

Colored  people  of  the  Southern  cities  should  be  encour- 
aged to  build  and  furnish  their  homes.  Is  this  quite  enough? 
No,  they  should  be  encouraged  to  build  beautiful  homes. 
We  are  not  likely  to  do  this  if  we  know  that  the  sewage 
will  stop  just  before  it  reaches  the  comer  of  the  neighbor- 
hood in  which  we  live ;  we  are  not  likely  to  do  it  if  we  know 
that  the  pavements  will  be  built  just  within  a  door  of  ours 
and  suddenly  stop.  A  few  days  ago  I  was  in  a  Southern 
city — in  the  State  of  Georgia,  I  am  glad  to  say.  I  had 
never  been  in  that  city  before.  I  stopped  at  the  house  of 
a  physician.  As  I  went  out  on  the  porch  the  next  morning 
(I  reached  there  at  night) ,  I  saw  well-paved  streets  on  both 
sides  of  the  road.  I  noticed  as  the  day  wore  on  that  all  of 
the  houses  on  the  opposite  street  were  occupied  by  white 
people,  and  I  remarked  that  it  was  an  unusual  sight  to  see 
that  both  streets  were  equally  well  kept  so  far  as  the  city 
was  concerned.  This  was  the  answer  from  my  friend: 
"The  white  people  of  this  town  are  fair  to  the  colored  peo- 
ple ;  they  want  the  whole  city  to  present  a  good  appearance, 
and  thpy  know  that  one  way  to  do  this  is  to  give  the  colored 
people  as  good  a  sidewalk  as  they  give  the  whites."  We  are 
not  likely  to  build  homes,  if  we  know  that  in  our  neighbor- 
hood women  of  ill  fame  of  our  own  race  are  permitted  to 
live  and  flaunt  themselves  at  will  either  day  or  night  and 
that  white  women  of  ill  fame  are  forced  to  remain  at  our 
next  door ;  we  are  not  likely  to  take  an  interest  in  building 
homes  when  street  lights  and  city  protection  are  generally 
wanting.  The  lack  of  these  conditions  brings  about  unrest, 
discontent,  lack  of  cooperation,  lack  of  confidence,  and  finally 
bitterness  and  hatred  which  often  end  in  crime. 

There  is  another  reason,  which  may  be  considered  selfish ; 
but  it  is  better  to  do  some  things  from  a  selfish  standpoint 
than  not  to  do  them  at  all.  V/here  the  homes  of  colored  peo- 
ple are  comfortable  and  clean,  there  is  less  disease,  less  sick- 
ness, less  death,  and  less  danger  to  others.  Disease  knows 
no  color  line;  we  meet  each  other  necessarily  daily  in  the 
kitchen,  in  the  nurseries,  on  the  streets,  in  the  stores,  and 
often  in  more  intimate  ways,  as  trained  nurses,  chauffeurs, 
coachmen,  etc.;  and  whatever  disease  attaches  itself  to  a 


340  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

colored  person  because  of  lack  of  decent  surroundings  is  not 
unlikely  to  transfer  itself  to  a  white  person,  even  though  his 
surroundings  may  be  clean  and  more  comfortable  or  lux- 
urious. 

There  is  still  another  side  to  this  question  of  having 
decent  homes  by  colored  people.     Is  not  the  South  in  need 
to-day  of  a  larger  number  of  industrious  and  well-lived  peo- 
ple more  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  its  development? 
Every  year  225,000  colored  people  die  in  the  South ;  100,000 
of  these  deaths  could  be  prevented  if  there  were  better 
homes,  cleaner  streets,  proper  sewerage,  better  bathing  fa- 
cilities.   Does  the  South  not  need  these  men  and  women  to 
build  its  roads,  to  cultivate  its  fields,  to  increase  and  de- 
velop its  wealth  and  citizenship  ?    In  the  South  450,000  are 
seriously  ill  all  the  time.     Does  this  not  work  too  great  a 
hardship  on  people  who  are  dependent  upon  these  sick  people 
to  fill  daily  obligations?    It  is  said  that  colored  people  pay 
annually  $15,000,000  (or  at  least  somebody  pays  it  for  us) 
for  funeral  expenses.     Would  it  not  be  a  better  thing,  a 
more  economical  thing,  to  have  this  money  used  for  better 
schools  and  churches  and  for  the  general  improvement  of  the 
city  and  State?    There  is  an  annual  loss  to  our  good  and 
beautiful   South  of  $300,000,000  from  disease  that,  with 
proper  care,  more  careful  and  decent  living,  might  just  as 
well  be  saved.    In  the  South  600,000  colored  people  will  die 
from  tuberculosis  alone.     No  disease  depends  more  upon 
plenty  of  room,  fresh  air,  sufficient  light  and  sanitation ;  and 
if  for  no  other  reason  than  this,  we  need  encouragement  to 
select  decent  localities,  to  build  larger  and  more  comfortable 
homes,  and  to  improve  the  localities  and  homes  in  which 
we  already  live. 

When  children  are  brought  up  in  closely  settled  houses 
with  no  breathing  space,  in  squalor  and  dirt,  with  insuffi- 
cient light  at  night  and  poor  sanitary  conditions,  with  little 
or  no  water,  we  need  not  expect  them  to  cultivate  self- 
respect;  we  need  not  expect  them  to  remain  at  the  fireside 
very  long;  we  may  expect  them  to  rapidly  fill  the  jails  and 
reform  schools.  Is  this  not  an  expense  to  the  State  and 
country  which  might  be  better  invested  in  a  more  whole- 


THE  NEGRO  HOME  AND  FUTURE  OF  THE  RACE  341 

some  and  even  a  more  economical  way?  We  would  at  least 
save  these  boys  and  girls  to  be  better  men  and  women  for 
the  future.  One  is  always  embarrassed  to  speak  of  himself, 
but  it  is  not  in  any  boastful  spirit  that  I  claim  that  we  are 
a  responsive  people.  We  understand  well  that  we  have  not 
had  the  advantages  that  other  citizens  of  the  South  have 
had  and  that  we  do  not  always  know  what  is  best  to  do ;  we 
are  a  race  of  people  who  want  to  grow  and  improve.  We 
are  growing  more  and  more  to  believe  that  there  can  be 
only  one  way,  one  standard  of  decent  living,  and  that  Jis  the 
standard  which  the  white  South  sets  up  for  itself.  We  are 
trying  always  to  remember  that  we  are  part  and  parcel  of 
the  South,  that  we  owe  it  to  her  quite  as  well  as  any  other 
citizen  owes  it,  to  take  an  interest  in  all  that  goes  to  make 
it  a  land  to  be  desired.  We  want  to  be  strong  physically, 
so  that  we  shall  not  fail  to  do  our  share  of  the  physical  labor 
of  the  South ;  we  want  to  be  better  educated,  so  as  to  have 
a  greater  respect  for  higher  moral  living;  we  want  to  be 
able  to  interpret  into  our  own  moral  life  something  of  the 
spiritual,  that  sort  of  spiritual  that  will  keep  us  from  hating 
a  man  just  because  he  happens  to  be  white  or  because  we 
think  he  hates  us. 

What  sets  the  American  white  man  above  other  people 
at  home  and  abroad  is  his  love  of  home  and  family;  his 
devotion  in  getting  for  his  children  the  best  there  is  to  be 
gotten ;  his  desire  to  make  sure  that  his  own  town,  his  own 
State,  his  own  community,  and  his  own  household  are  grow- 
ing in  every  good  direction.  His  self-respect  and  his  self- 
interest  come  to  him  largely  because  of  his  surroundings. 
He  knows  that  his  future  depends  upon  this  course  of  pro- 
cedure; it  is  just  so  with  the  colored  people  of  the  South. 
In  the  years  that  are  to  come  we  will  give  back  to  the  South 
in  dollars  and  cents,  in  decent  men  and  women,  in  well-con- 
ducted schools  and  churches,  in  well-balanced  citizenship, 
just  in  proportion  as  the  South  sees  to  it  that  we  have  a 
chance  to  be  and  to  do,  and  as  it  thinks  of  us  not  in  terms 
of  aggressive  social  equality  but  in  terms  of  men  and  women 
with  equal  desires  to  build  up  themselves  and  the  race  to 
which  they  belong. 


342  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AS  FACTORS  IN  THE  SOCIAL 
AND  ECONOMICAL  LIFE  OF  THE  NEGRO 

PROFESSOR  MONROE  N.  WORK,  TUSKEGEE,  ALA. 

There  are  among  negroes  a  multitude  of  secret  and 
beneficial  societies.  These  societies  fall  into  two  classes: 
the  old-line  societies,  such  as  the  Masons,  the  Odd  Fellows, 
the  Knights  of  Pythias;  and  the  more  purely  benevolent 
societies,  as,  for  example,  the  True  Reformers  and  the  Gali- 
lean Fishermen.  Included  under  benevolent  societies  are 
also  the  very  large  number  of  local  sick  and  death  benefit 
societies. 

The  great  number  of  fraternal  and  benevolent  societies 
among  negroes  indicates  that  they  occupy  an  important 
place  in  their  social  life.  With  the  exception  of  the  old-line 
societies,  all  of  these  have  originated  with  the  negro.  They 
have  arisen  as  a  result  of  very  fundamental  needs.  Such, 
for  example,  was  the  origin  of  the  Free  African  Society, 
established  at  Philadelphia  in  1787.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  attempts  to  form  an  independent  organization  among 
American  negroes..  Its  organizers  were  two  free  persons  of 
color,  Absalom  Jones  and  Richard  Allen.  These  two  men 
beheld  with  sorrow  the  irreligious  and  uncivilized  state  of 
the  people  of  their  complexion  and  often  consulted  with 
each  other  concerning  organizing  some  kind  of  religious 
society.  They  finally  decided  that  a  society  should  be  formed 
without  regard  to  religious  tenets,  "provided  the  persons 
lived  an  orderly  and  sober  life,  in  order  to  support  one  an- 
other in  sickness  and  for  the  benefit  of  their  widows  and 
fatherless  children."  The  persons  who  joined  were  charged 
a  small  monthly  fee. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  Free  African  Society  took  the 
initiative  in  all  things  relative  to  the  welfare  of  the  people 
of  color.  The  marriage  of  both  slaves  and  free  negroes  was 
much  neglected.  The  Society  appointed  a  committee  to 
regulate  the  matter  of  marriages.  Another  thing  that  the 
Society  did  was  to  secure  a  burial  place  for  negroes.  In 
most  instances  they  were  forbidden  to  be  buried  in  the  reg- 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AS  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE  343 

ular  graveyards.  They  were  buried  on  the  edge  of  fields  and 
in  unmarked  graves.  A  petition  was  made  to  the  common 
council  of  Philadelphia  asking  that  the  potter's  field,  which 
was  to  be  leased,  be  rented  to  the  Free  African  Society.  The 
petition  stated  that  the  Society  would  pay  as  much  rent  for 
the  ground  as  any  other  person.  The  petition  was  granted. 
The  Free  African  Society  had  a  profound  and  important 
influence  on  the  negro's  social  life.  Out  of  it  grew  the  first 
independent  negro  religious  denomination,  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  precarious  economic  condition  of  free  negroes  led 
to  the  organization  of  many  mutual  aid  societies  in  Phila- 
delphia and  in  other  cities.  These  societies  were  very  simple 
in  form.  A  small  initiation  fee  and  a  small  annual  payment 
were  charged.  There  were  sick  and  death  benefits.  The 
individual  societies  were  confined  to  a  few  members,  all 
personally  known  to  each  other.  In  1838  there  were  one 
hundred  of  these  small  societies  in  Philadelphia,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  7,448.  The  amount  paid  in  benefits  that  year  was 
$14,172.  They  had  on  hand  funds  amounting  to  $10,143. 
In  1848  there  were  in  Philadelphia  one  hundred  and  six  of 
these  societies,  with  a  membership  of  8,000.  The  annual 
income  for  seventy-six  of  these  was  reported  to  be  $16,814. 
Aid  was  rendered  to  six  hundred  and  eighty-one  families. 

In  the  cities  of  the  South  there  were  also  mutual  aid 
organizations  among  the  free  negroes.  In  Baltimore  as  far 
back  as  1820  there  are  records  of  organizations  of  little 
groups  of  acquaintances  and  fellow  laborers  into  beneficial 
societies  in  order  to  help  one  another  in  sickness  and  to  pro- 
vide for  decent  burials.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least  twenty- 
five  of  these  societies  had  been  formed  in  that  city  before 
the  Civil  War.  They  were  especially  exempted  from  the 
laws  forbidding  the  meetings  of  free  persons  of  color.  Out 
of  the  Baltimore  Mutual  Aid  Society  grew  at  least  three 
national  societies :  The  Good  Samaritans,  the  Nazarites,  and 
the  Galilean  Fishermen. 

In  one  instance  a  secret  society  was  organized  to  over- 
throw slavery.  In  1844  a  Moses  Dickson,  who  had  for  years 
worked  on  steamboats  running  from  Cincinnati  up  and  down 


344  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  determined  to  do  something 
toward  securing  the  freedom  of  the  slaves.  In  1844  he  and 
eleven  other  free  negroes  met  to  form  an  organization  for 
this  purpose.  After  consulting  together  they  decided  to 
take  two  years  to  study  over  and  develop  a  plan  of  action. 
In  1846  the  twelve  met  in  St.  Louis  and  organized  the 
Knights  of  Liberty.  The  organization  having  been  formed, 
the  men  separated  wilh  the  understanding  that  they  were 
to  travel  through  the  South  and  organize  local  societies  in 
the  different  States.  Dickson  remained  at  the  headquarters 
in  St.  Louis.  It  was  agreed  that  they  should  spend  ten  years 
working  slowly  and  secretly,  making  their  preparations  and 
in  extending  the  organization  of  the  society.  At  the  end  of 
this  time,  because  of  changes  in  conditions  both  North  and 
South,  it  was  decided  to  change  the  plan  of  operation  and 
do  underground  railroad  work.  It  was  claimed  that  the 
Knights  of  Liberty  yearly  assisted  hundreds  of  slaves  to 
escape.  The  emancipation  of  the  slaves  having  ended  the 
work  for  which  the  society  had  been  formed,  Mr.  Dickson, 
who  had  become  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  decided  to  establish 
a  beneficial  order  in  memory  of  the  original  organizers.  As 
a  result  the  Knights  and  Daughters  of  Tabor  society  was 
established  in  1871. 

In  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  1843  the  Union  Benevolent  Society 
was  organized  by  free  negroes.  Its  purpose  was  to  care  for 
the  sick,  bury  the  dead,  encourage  education  and  industry 
among  free  negroes,  and  help  slaves  to  freedom.  The  white 
people  knew  of  this  society  and  aided  it.  They  knew  that 
the  society  helped  to  bury  the  dead,  cared  for  the  sick,  and 
looked  after  the  support  of  the  widows  and  orphans.  In 
1852  they  permitted  a  lodge  to  be  organized  among  the 
slaves.  What  the  masters  did  not  know  was  that  this  so- 
ciety was  actively  engaged  in  assisting  slaves  to  escape  and 
that  the  underground  railroad  agents  in  Kentucky  were 
actively  cooperating  with  it. 

Benevolent  and  burial  societies,  it  appears,  were  also 
numerous  among  the  slaves.  An  account  of  mutual  aid  so- 
cieties among  slaves  in  Virginia  says  that  in  every  city  of 
any  size  there  existed  organizations  of  negroes  having  as 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AS  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE  345 

their  object  the  caring  for  the  sick  and  the  burying  of  the 
dead.  In  but  few  instances  did  the  society  exist  openly,  as 
the  laws  of  the  time  concerning  negroes  were  such  as  to 
make  it  impossible  for  this  to  be  done  without  serious  conse- 
quences to  the  participants.  The  general  plan  seems  to  have 
been  to  select  some  one  who  could  read  and  write  and  make 
him  the  secretary.  The  meeting  place  having  been  selected, 
the  members  would  come  by  ones  and  twos,  make  their  pay- 
ments to  the  secretary,  and  quietly  withdraw.  The  book  of 
the  secretary  was  often  kept  covered  up  on  the  bed.  In 
many  of  the  societies  each  member  was  known  by  number, 
and  in  paying  simply  announced  his  number.  The  president 
of  such  a  society  was  usually  a  privileged  slave  who  had  the 
confidence  of  his  or  her  master  and  could  go  and  come  at 
will.  Thus  a  form  of  communication  could  be  kept  up  be- 
tween all  members.  In  event  of  the  death  of  a  member  pro- 
vision was  made  for  decent  burial,  and  all  the  members  as 
far  as  possible  obtained  permits  to  attend  the  funeral.  Here 
again  their  plan  of  getting  together  was  brought  into  play. 
In  Richmond  they  would  go  to  the  church  by  ones  and  twos 
and  there  sit  as  near  together  as  convenient.  At  the  close 
of  the  service  a  line  of  march  would  be  formed  when  suf- 
ficiently far  from  the  church  to  make  it  safe  to  do  so. 

With  emancipation  there  was  more  or  less  of  a  break- 
up of  the  social  system  in  which  both  the  slaves  and  the  free 
negroes  had  been  living.  Readjustments  took  place.  The 
secret  and  benevolent  societies  played  an  important  part  in 
this  readjustment.  Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  make 
a  study  of  a  small  group  of  negroes  engaged  in  oyster  fish- 
ing on  the  Georgia  coast.  I  found  that  the  oldest  society 
in  this  group,  the  Christian  Progress,  had  been  organized 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  by  a  number  of  Christian 
people  banding  themselves  together  for  mutual  help.  The 
next  oldest  society  in  this  group  of  oyster  negroes  dated  its 
organization  from  Reconstruction  days,  when  there  was  a 
military  company  with  a  woman's  auxiliary  attached.  The 
military  company  passed  out  of  existence,  but  the  woman's 
auxiliary  continued  under  the  name  of  the  Ladies'  Branch. 


346  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Such  societies  as  I  found  among  the  negroes  of  the 
Georgia  coast  multiplied  after  emancipation  in  all  parts  of 
the  South.  Their  main  purposes  were  to  care  for  the  sick 
and  furnish  decent  burial  at  death.  Almost  every  one  be- 
came a  member  of  some  society.  There  were  societies  for 
the  men,  for  the  women,  and  for  the  children.  In  some  in- 
stances the  society  for  the  men  was  the  head,  while  those 
for  the  women  and  children  were  the  branches.  In  other 
instances  they  were  entirely  independent  of  each  other.  Lit- 
tle or  no  attention  was  paid  to  age  or  health  conditions.  The 
joining  fees  usually  ranged  from  $1  to  $5.  The  monthly 
dues  were  from  10  cents  to  50  cents.  Some  of  these  local 
societies  had  secret  features,  others  had  none.  The  amount 
paid  for  sick  dues  was  regulated  by  the  by-laws  and  ranged 
from  10  cents  to  $2  per  week.  These  local  organizations, 
formed  by  the  hundreds  in  all  sections  of  the  South,  served  a 
good  purpose.  They  brought  the  people  together  and  estab- 
lished friendly  intercourse. 

In  the  early  eighties  the  operating  of  negro  beneficial 
societies  began  to  develop  into  a  regular  business.  This  de- 
velopment was  along  two  lines.  The  first  and  earlier  was 
the  establishing  of  national  organizations,  which  retained 
all  of  the  features  of  the  oldest  secret  and  benevolent  so- 
cieties, but  in  addition  gave  much  larger  insurance  benefits. 
The  most  notable  of  these  new  societies  was  the  True  Re- 
formers, established  at  Richmond  in  1881.  The  True  Re- 
formers is  in  many  respects  the  most  remarkable  negro 
secret  society  in  the  country.  It  was  one  of  the  first  to  be 
established  with  the  express  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  bet- 
ter the  negro's  economic  conditions.  In  1883  it  was  granted 
a  charter  and  incorporated  as  a  joint  stock  company  under 
the  name  of  the  Grand  Fountain  of  the  United  Order  of 
True  Reformers.  Th6  capital  stock  was  to  be  not  more  than 
$10,000.  The  company  was  to  hold  real  estate  not  to  exceed 
in  value  more  than  $25,000.  In  1898  the  charter  wa& 
amended  and  the  society  was  given  the  right  to  issue  reg- 
ular insurance  policies  to  its  members.  The  policies  based 
on  an  age  scale  ranged  from  $33  to  $1,000.  The  value  of 
the  real  estate  that  could  be  held  by  the  society  was  in- 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AS  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE  347 

creased  to  the  sum  of  $500,000.  In  the  twenty  years  from 
1881  to  1901  the  society  paid  out  in  death  claims  $600,000 
and  in  sick  benefits  $1,500,000.  The  membership  increased 
to  over  50,000. 

It  is  not,  however,  the  remarkable  growth  in  members  of 
the  True  Reformers  or  its  insurance  features  which  are  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  us,  but  rather  the  economic  by- 
products of  the  society.  These  by-products  were  a  bank, 
with  over  $500,000  assets ;  a  mercantile  and  industrial  asso- 
ciation, doing  an  annual  business  of  over  $100,000;  a  weekly 
newspaper,  with  a  printing  department;  a  hotel  accommo- 
dating 150  guests;  an  old  folks'  home;  an  incorporated  build- 
ing and  loan  association  having  as  its  object  the  encourage- 
ment of  industry,  frugality,  and  saving  among  its  mem- 
bers ;  and  a  real  estate  department  which  had  under  its  con- 
trol property  of  the  order  with  a  total  value  of  $400,000. 
No  negro  organization  of  any  sort  had  hitherto  made  such 
an  ambitious  adventure  into  the  field  of  business  endeavor. 

Through  bad  management  and  other  causes  the  True 
Reformers  society  suffered  reverses.  The  most  of  its  busi- 
ness enterprises  failed.  Nevertheless  its  by-product  experi- 
ments were  great  object  lessons,  teaching  negroes  that  it  was 
possible  for  them  to  conduct  business  enterprises  in  a  large 
way.  This  was  especially  true  in  the  case  of  the  bank.  Its 
establishment  and  its  operation  for  more  than  twenty  years 
taught  negroes  that  they  could  establish  and  operate  banks. 
As  a  result,  and  in  spite  of  inexperience  and  reverses,  they 
now  have  fifty. 

The  second  line  into  which,  in  the  eighties,  negro  benefit 
societies  developed  was  insurance  companies.  There  were 
a  number  of  causes  which  led  to  the  forming  of  insurance 
companies  operated  and  controlled  by  negroes.  The  people 
had  grown  in  intelligence.  They  had  made  economic  prog- 
ress and  were  ready  to  take  some  form  of  insurance  that 
would  pay  them  larger  sick  and  death  benefits  than  they 
were  receiving  from  the  mutual  aid  societies.  The  negro 
insurance  companies  met  these  demands  by  paying  much 
higher  sick  and  death  benefits  than  the  older  societies  had 
been  able  to  pay.    This  was  made  possible  by  increasing  the 


348  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

membership  in  a  society  from  twenty-five  or  fifty  persons 
to  several  hundred  and  in  some  cases  several  thousand  per- 
sons. About  this  time  white  industrial  insurance  com- 
panies began  to  operate  extensively  among  negroes.  These 
companies  generally  paid  negroes  smaller  amounts  than 
were  paid  whites  for  the  same  premiums.  There  arose  com- 
petition between  the  white  and  negro  companies.  In  order 
to  get  the  business  of  white  companies  the  common  attempt 
was  to  make  a  rate  lower  than  that  charged  by  the  white 
companies  and  to  pay  more  benefits.  In  spite  of  inexperi- 
ence, smaller  capital,  and  faulty  organization,  the  negro  com- 
panies have  been  very  largely  successful  in  this  competition. 

In  1900  they  had  become  important  enough  for  the  State 
Legislatures  to  begin  to  make  laws  to  control  them.  The 
Virginia  Legislature  passed  a  law  for  the  express  purpose 
of  putting  negro  insurance  companies  out  of  business.  The 
law  required  companies  paying  sick  and  death  benefits  to 
pay  the  State  a  tax  of  $200  and  one  per  cent  of  their  gross 
receipts.  This  law  simply  acted  as  a  stimulus  to  the  negro 
companies  and  made  them  hustle  more.  Thereupon  the  Leg- 
islature passed  a  new  law  requiring  benefit  insurance  com- 
panies wishing  to  continue  doing  business  to  deposit  in  the 
State  treasury  the  sum  of  $10,000  as  security  for  the  policy- 
holders. This,  it  was  thought,  would  certainly  get  rid  of  the 
negro  insurance  companies.  In  fact,  it  is  said  that  the 
agents  of  white  industrial  insurance  companies  told  persons 
holding  policies  in  the  negro  companies  that  their  money 
was  lost  and  that  they  had  better  join  the  white  companies. 
This  law,  as  the  previous  one,  simply  acted  as  a  stimulus. 
Four  of  the  companies  individually  put  up  their  $10,000. 

Insurance  is  now  one  of  the  largest  fields  of  business 
endeavor  in  which  negroes  operate.  Reports  of  Insurance 
Commissioners  show  that,  for  the  various  States  of  the 
South,  the  assets  of  negro  insurance  companies  are  now 
over  $1,500,000.  Their  annual  income  is  over  $2,800,000. 
They  disburse  annually  $2.vnn  OOO.  They  write  annually 
over  $3,000,000  insurance.  They  now  have  in  force  about 
$26,000,000  insurance.  Recently,  and  as  a  result  of  the 
development  of  negro  fraternal  insurance,  an  old-line  in- 


SECRET  SOCIETIES  AS  FACTORS  IN  SOCIAL  LIFE  349 

surance  company,  the  Standard  Life,  with  headquarters  at 
Atlanta,  was  organized.  It  began  business  in  1913.  As  a 
preliminary,  it  was  required  to  deposit  $100,000  with  the 
Georgia  Insurance  Commission.  It  now  has  $2,000,000  of 
insurance  in  force  and  is  doing  business  in  seven  States. 

In  recent  years  the  increase  in  the  number  of  negro  busi- 
ness and  professional  men  has  created  a  demand  for  business 
houses.  Negro  secret  societies  have  furnished  the  money 
with  which  to  erect  suitable  buildings.  In  New  Orleans  the 
Knights  of  Pythias  erected  a  $100,000  business  building.  In 
Philadelphia  the  Odd  Fellows  erected  a  $100,000  building. 
At  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  the  Mosaic  Templars  not  long  ago 
dedicated  a  $60,000  office  building  and  auditorium.  The 
Negro  Odd  Fellows  of  Georgia  have  erected  a  six-story  office 
building  that  cost  over  $100,000.  At  Washington,  D.  C, 
according  to  reports,  a  contract  was  recently  let  for  a 
$185,000  five-story  Masonic  Temple,  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  to  be  used  for  business  purposes.  Last  year  at 
Louisville  the  Knights  of  Pythias  dedicated  a  $125,000 
seven-story  office  building. 

Experience  has  taught  the  secret  societies  and  insurance 
companies  that  attention  must  be  given  to  health  improve- 
ment. As  an  example,  the  North  Carolina  Mutual  and 
Provident  Association  got  out  some  special  health  instruc- 
tions. It  has  its  agents  see  that  efforts  are  made  to  improve 
health  conditions  of  the  people  among  whom  they  work.  The 
Odd  Fellows  of  Georgia  have  a  health  department,  the  par- 
ticular function  of  which  is  to  furnish  health  information. 
This  is  done  by  means  of  articles  on  health  published  in  the 
Atlanta  Independent,  the  official  organ  of  this  order  in  Geor- 
gia. When  last  year  the  Tuskegee  Institute  promoted  a 
National  Negro  Health  Week,  the  most  active  and  efficient 
cooperators  were  the  secret  societies  and  the  insurance  com- 
panies. 

Let  us  summarize  what  secret  societies  have  done  for 
the  social  and  economic  life  of  negroes.  We  found  that 
during  the  days  of  slavery  these  societies  were  important 
factors  in  the  social  and  economic  life  of  the  free  negroes 
and  to  some  extent  of  the  slaves.    During  the  Reconstruction 


350  DEMOCRACY  IN   EARNEST 

period  these  societies  were  important  factors  in  the  read- 
justment of  the  negro  to  his  new  conditions.  The  organiz- 
ing and  operating  of  these  societies  has  developed  leadership 
and  taught  the  masses  to  be  amenable  to  this  leadership. 
The  national  societies  have  given  opportunity  for  the  de- 
velopment and  exercise  of  political  abilities  which,  because 
of  conditions,  are  to  a  large  extent  excluded  from  the  reg- 
ular channels  of  expression.  The  secret  societies  have  af- 
forded a  means  whereby  negroes  were  able  to  get  together 
large  sums  of  money. 

The  chief  value  of  negro  societies  and  benevolent  organi- 
zations has  been  that  they  were  schools  in  which  the  masses 
were  taught  the  value  and  the  methods  of  cooperation.  In 
order  for  these  organizations  to  succeed  they  were  compelled 
to  enforce  upon  the  masses  of  the  people  habits  of  saving 
and  of  system  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  been 
able  or  disposed  to  learn.  These  societies  have  contributed 
in  no  small  degree  to  both  the  social  and  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  negro. 


ILL  HEALTH,  NARCOTICS,  AND  LAWLESSNESS 
AMONG  NEGROES 

HON.  J.  L.  SUTTON,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

I  WAS  born  and  reared  in  the  South  with  the  negro  race, 
and  have  always  felt  a  great  interest  in  their  welfare ;  and 
if  there  is  anything  I  can  do  for  the  uplifting  of  the  race, 
I  will  gladly  render  my  services. 

My  subject  applies  not  only  to  the  negro  race,  but  to 
other  races  just  the  same.  However,  the  South  is  undoubt- 
edly the  home  of  the  negro.  Climate  and  general  interest 
are  in  their  favor.  It  is  known  that  the  cold  weather  of 
the  North  is  not  favorable  to  them,  and  we  Southerners  feel 
that  there  is  more  interest  shown  in  their  behalf  in  the 
South  than  by  anybody  else.  Bishop  Thirkield,  in  an  ad- 
dress on  this  question,  said:  "It  was  a  blessing  of  God  that 
the  negro  people  were  brought  to  the  South." 


ILL   HEALTH,   NARCOTICS,  AND  LAWLESSNESS  351 

III  Health. — As  to  their  ill  health  in  the  time  of  slavery, 
slave  owners  made  the  mistake  of  looking  after  their  health 
only,  paying  very  little  or  no  attention  to  their  moral  or 
mental  condition,  which  undoubtedly  has  much  to  do  with 
the  health  of  any  race,  as  ill  health  to-day  is  traced  to  un- 
sanitary surroundings,  crowded  conditions  of  their  quarters, 
and  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  care  of  their  bodies.  It  is 
acknowledged  that  the  death  rate  of  the  negro  race  of  the 
South  is  about  double  that  of  the  white  race.  Dr.  Slinger- 
land,  in  an  address  delivered  at  the  New  Orleans  University, 
said  that  the  mortality  was  thirty  out  of  every  thousand  of 
the  negro  race,  while  it  was  only  fifteen  out  of  every  thou- 
sand of  the  white.  This  should  not  be  the  case,  as  naturally 
the  negro  race  is  strong,  robust,  and  long-lived;  for  we 
often  find  a  negro  man  or  woman  near  the  age  of  a  hundred 
years.  Negroes  are  in  their  own  sphere  when  doing  outside 
or  agricultural  work.  Therefore,  when  they  come  to  the 
cities  and  are  crowded  in  close  quarters,  where  unsanitary 
conditions  exist,  where  so  many  families  live  in  one  building, 
with  no  preventive  measures  taken  when  any  member  is  sick 
either  with  a  contagious  disease  or  otherwise,  their  mor- 
tality goes  up.  They  are  also  cowed,  being  afraid  of  the 
regulations  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  in  certain  diseases 
keep  the  patients  from  getting  medical  treatment  in  order 
that  they  can  go  out  to  their  work,  thus  spreading  the  dis- 
ease among  themselves  and  ofhers.  Tuberculosis,  or  the 
white  plague,  and  venereal  diseases  have  made  great  inroads 
on  the  negro  race — due  principally  to  the  outcome  of  their 
ignorance  and  congested  living  conditions. 

I  would  like  to  say,  however,  that  great  eflfort  is  being 
manifested  by  leading  physicians,  schools,  and  universities 
to  eliminate  these  conditions,  and  they  need  our  assistance 
and  cooperation  more  than  our  criticism. 

There  is  a  growing  class  among  the  race  who  have  joined 
societies  and  insurance  companies  which  give  them  treat- 
ment in  time  of  sickness  and  also  trained  nursing  to  prevent 
diseases,  and  these  should  make  for  improvement  in  their 
health.  When  taken  out  of  congested  districts,  the  negro 
women  keep  their  homes  neat  and  clean ;  in  fact,  the  serv- 


352  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

ants  who  are  taught  to  care  for  our  homes  learn  how  to 
keep  their  own  homes  neat  and  clean,  and  also  to  follow  out 
our  sanitary  laws  and  regulations,  applying  them  to  their 
own  homes. 

I  will  say  just  here  that  the  greatest  drawback  is  that 
the  property  holders  are  to  blame  for  the  crowds  they  put 
in  small,  unsanitary  buildings,  often  not  fit  for  the  habitation 
of  animals,  and  generally  at  unreasonable  or  extortionate 
rent.  It  is  for  the  State  or  city  officials  to  make  and  enforce 
such  laws  and  regulations  as  will  compel  the  property  holders 
to  make  just  provisions  for  their  tenants.  These  people 
come  home  tired  and  very  much  in  need  of  a  good  bath,  in 
order  that  they  may  keep  themselves  clean  and, may  rest  at 
night,  and  so  find  the  natural  incentives  of  sober  and  up- 
right living. 

Narcotics. — It  is  known  that  the  percentage  of  narcotic 
users  among  the  negroes  is  enormously  greater  than  among 
us.  For  a  long  time  habit-forming  drugs  were  sold  without 
hindrance  by  unscrupulous  persons  for  profit,  and  the  negro 
was  naturally  the  victim.  Having  once  acquired  the  habit, 
it  has  rapidly  grown  upon  them.  Since  the  passing  of  the 
modern  anti-narcotic  laws,  however,  this  to  a  great  degree 
will  tend  to  die  out.  Yet  we  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  the  great  injury  of  narcotics  to  this  race  should  not 
be  left  to  the  law  alone  to  eliminate,  but  they  should  be 
taught  in  every  way  its  harmful  effect  and  given  such  treat- 
ment and  assistance  as  will  enable  them  to  abstain  from 
these  harmful  drugs.  The  government  must  declare  alcohol 
a  narcotic  and  treat  it  as  other  harmful  drugs. 

Lawlessness. — Crime  is  the  outcome  of  inheritance,  en- 
vironment, or  physical  weakness;  therefore  when  we  con- 
sider the  negro  race's  lack  of  moral  training  and  ignorance 
their  miserable  surroundings  and  common  exploitation  at 
the  hands  of  our  money  or  indifference,  who  can  fail  to  see 
the  connection  between  these  things  and  their  "lawlessness"? 
Personally,  as  a  race,  I  do  not  consider  the  negro  people 
naturally  lawless ;  on  the  contrary,  I  consider  that  they  are 
naturally  law-abiding  and  subject  to  authority.  While  it 
is  true  that  there  are  five  negroes  to  one  white  person  in  our 


ILL  HEALTH,   NARCOTICS,  AND  LAWLESSNESS  353 

penitentiaries  or  our  jails  in  the  South,  j^et  they  are  there 
not  greatly  for  any  great  crimes  committed,  but  for  such 
acts  as  pilfering,  house-robbing,  and  other  petty  or  non- 
capital offenses.  Besides,  it  is  the  whites  and  not  the  ne- 
groes that  administer  the  law  in  the  South.  That  may  make 
a  difference  in  the  relative  statistics. 

Seldom  is  a  negro  jailed  for  such  crimes  as  wrecking  or 
holding  up  a  train,  bank-robbing,  or  the  like.  The  negro 
is  tempted  to  come  to  the  city  from  agricultural  work  on 
the  plantation,  to  which  he  is  mostly  fitted,  and,  finding  no 
employment,  gets  to  drinking  or  forming  other  bad  habits. 
Having  no  money,  he  commits  some  crime,  which  never 
would  have  been  done  if  he  had  been  employed  in  doing 
proper  work.  I  feel  that  no  man  should  be  permitted  to  stay 
in  the  city  who  has  no  employment.  This  loafing  on  our 
streets,  living  in  barrooms,  and  standing  on  the  streets, 
waiting  the  coming  of  their  wives,  who  are  employed  as  our 
cooks  and  bring  them  baskets  of  edibles — this  is  the  cause 
of  a  large  percentage  of  lawlessness.  In  my  eight  years  of 
experience  as  Chaplain  of  the  Louisiana  State  Penitentiary, 
and  coming  personally  in  contact  with  the  negro,  I  would 
say  that,  as  a  class,  even  those  who  are  criminals  and  serv- 
ing terms  in  prison  are  there  from  ignorance  and  not  having 
been  properly  instructed  and  cared  for. 

In  conversation  with  owners  of  large  plantations,  levee 
contractors,  and  railroad  men,  they  tell  me  they  prefer 
healthy  negroes  who  have  served  a  term  in  the  State  Peni- 
tentiary to  any  other  class  of  people,  as  they  have  been 
taught  to  work,  have  the  habit  of  keeping  regular  hours, 
and  really  do  a  more  honest  day's  work  than  the  average 
laborer,  which  goes  to  show  that  it  was  not  the  natural  man 
that  committed  the  crime,  but  the  unnatural  or  ignorant 
man,  and  once  put  in  the  way  of  even  a  little  training  they 
show  response  and  improvement.  On  our  State  farms  the 
negroes  are  made  trusties,  drive  our  water  and  bread 
wagons,  look  after  the  stock,  and  enjoy  every  trust  and  every 
freedom  common  on  large  plantations.  It  is  my  opinion  that 
the  negro  race  is  susceptible  of  religious  training;  and 
23 


354  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

while  they  may  not  retain  principles  as  we  think  they 
should,  they  imbibe  them  more  readily  than  any  other  class, 
and  I  feel  that,  if  the  negro  race  could  be  rightly  educated, 
taught  sanitary  laws,  given  steady  work,  and  trained  in  the 
fear  of  God,  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  them  would  be  a  law- 
abiding  people. 


THE  PLAY  LIFE  OF  NEGRO  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

A.   M.  TRAWICK,  SOCIAL  SERVICE  SECRETARY,  INTERNATIONAL 

COMMITTEE  OF  THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN 

ASSOCIATION 

Before  we  answer  the  question  touching  the  play  life  of 
negro  boys  and  girls,  we  must  say  a  word  or  two  about  play 
in  general,  and  what  sort  of  play  a  Sociological  Congress  is 
authorized  to  discuss. 

All  men  and  most  animals  are  endowed  by  nature  with 
two  instincts,  the  instinct  of  play  and  the  instinct  of  gre- 
gariousness.  Both  instincts  are  dormant  in  the  early  days 
of  existence,  but  once  awakened,  they  never  die  till  death 
claims  its  due.  An  individual  who  refuses  to  play  is  a  men- 
ace to  society,  just  as  the  individual  who  shuns  the  compan- 
ionship of  his  fellow  mortals.  The  play  impulse  demands 
gregariousness  and  the  massing  of  human  beings  together  is 
always  a  stimulus  to  play.  A  solitary  individual  trying  to 
play  is  hopelessly  hobbed,  and  an  aggregate  of  mortals  with- 
out play  is  an  inert  mass  incapable  of  direction  or  move- 
ment. 

The  reaction  of  the  play  spirit  upon  the  crowd  depends 
entirely  upon  the  leadership  of  the  crowd.  Whether  it  shall 
be  a  game  to  the  finish,  a  lynching,  a  relief  expedition,  or  a 
war,  depends  upon  the  influence  of  the  leader.  So  closely 
related  are  all  these  crowd  activities  that  an  exercise  may  be- 
gin as  a  game,  continue  as  a  lynching,  culminate  in  war, 
and  shift  back  to  a  game  again,  without  the  slightest  loss 
in  the  fun  of  the  thing.  Mankind  is  incurably  playful,  and 
men  do  best  which  they  do  as  a  part  of  the  game.  The  rule 
of  the  game  is  at  the  direction  of  the  leader. 


THE  PLAY  LIFE  OF  NEGRO  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  355 

These  three  considerations  show  the  sociological  im- 
portance of  play;  it  is  a  primitive  and  inevitable  impulse, 
it  is  stimulated  by  group  contacts,  and  it  is  guided  to  its 
proper  culmination  by  qualified  leaders.  How  then  shall 
we  answer  the  previous  question,  "What  are  we  doing  for 
the  play  life  of  negro  boys  and  girls?" 

At  some  future  session  of  this  Congress  some  one  will  be 
able  to  answer,  "We  are  doing  all  .that  the  needs  of  negro 
boys  and  girls  require  us  to  do."  At  this  session,  however, 
we  must  satisfy  ourselves  by  saying,  "We  are  doing  as  little 
as  possible." 

But  let  us  not  be  too  hard  on  ourselves.  It  has  not  been 
long  since  we  began  to  give  the  subject  of  play  for  any- 
body any  serious  consideration  at  all.  Most  of  us  got  along 
very  well  without  any  sociological  interference  in  our  play 
when  we  were  growing  up.  Given  a  fair  afternoon,  a 
yarn  ball,  and  a  home-made  bat,  we  had  no  difl^culty  in  get- 
ting something  started.  It  may  have  been  "one-eyed  cat" 
or  it  may  have  been  war;  but  no  matter,  we  had  a  bully 
time  and  came  home  with  a  good  appetite  for  supper.  Every 
man  was  his  own  umpire,  as  far  as  might  be,  in  those  good 
old  days,  and  deciding  the  question  of  leadership  was  as 
much  a  part  of  the  game  as  running  the  bases.  Do  our 
children  need  municipal  petting  any  more  than  we  did? 

Times  have  changed  and  customs  have  changed  with 
them.  The  old  town  common  has  retired  behind  a  barbed 
vdre  fence.  The  school  yard  from  fence  to  wall  is  too 
crowded  for  hot-ball  or  deep  breathing.  The  church  yard 
cannot  be  profaned  to  the  vulgar  uses  of  play.  The  back 
yard  is  reserved  for  ashes  and  tin  cans  or  a  vegetable  gar- 
den; the  front  yard  is  sacred  to  real  estate  investments; 
the  streets  are  full  of  traffic;  the  alleys  are  full  of  grease. 
Why  are  children  so  bothersome  about  a  place  to  play? 
There  is  the  Sunday  school  picnic,  where  they  can  skip  the* 
rope  and  drop  the  handkerchief.  There  is  the  State  fair, 
the  county  fair,  and  every  autumn  the  street  fair  and  the 
circus.  There  are  moving  pictures  in  every  block.  What 
more  do  children  want? 


356  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

But,  in  spite  of  these  concessions,  some  one  a  short  time 
ago  began  to  tell  us  that  play  was  not  a  waste  of  time,  not 
a  luxurj',  but  an  actual  necessity.  And  we  began  to  believe 
it,  albeit  with  a  kind  of  hesitation  glide.  We  roped  off  a 
corner  of  our  grand  and  dignified  parks,  removed  some  of 
the  "Keep  Off  the  Grass"  signs,  put  in  a  play  leader  at  fif- 
teen dollars  a  month,  and  let  the  children  loose,  while  we 
stood  by  and  smiled  at  our  amiable  weakness.  The  returns 
in  better  health,  happier  homes,  and  improved  morals  seemed 
to  justify  the  investment;  on  second  thought  they  did  justify 
the  outlay;  and  to-day  supervised  playgrounds  are  on  the 
budget,  or  at  least  on  the  conscience,  of  every  progressive 
city  and  town  in  the  land. 

For  negroes  too?  0,  no.  Let  them  work  out  their  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  If  jails  and  work- 
houses and  reformatories  do  not  make  good  citizens,  minus 
the  vote,  of  them,  what  more  can  we  be  expected  to  do?" 
Negroes  pay  a  considerable  amount  of  taxes,  but  the  tax- 
payers' money  must  not  be  wasted.  The  city  hall  people 
say  so  themselves,  and  we  good  people  have  put  them  there 
to  protect  our  interests.  A  great  many  people,  both  white 
and  colored,  do  not  believe  that  what  is  good  for  children  is 
necessarily  good  for  negro  children.  They  think  that  play 
is  a  reward  for  work  well  done;  and  as  negroes  never  do 
enough  work  and  never  did  do  it  any  too  well,  they  are  not 
entitled  to  the  reward.  Some  negro  preachers  and  school- 
teachers assume  that  discipline,  toil,  and  strict  decorum  are 
the  only  marks  of  progress.  They  believe  that  children 
should  be  brought  up  on  corn  bread,  Latin  grammar,  and 
"work,  for  the  night  is  coming."  They  take  themselves 
with  overwhelming  seriousness.  They  should  laugh  more 
and  stimulate  others  to  laugh  with  them,  the  public  welfare 
requiring  it. 

As  a  race,  negroes  sing  well  and  dance  well,  but  they 
have  made  no  distinct  contribution  to  the  play-life  of  nations. 
It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  significance  that  the  negro,  while 
he  has  been  singing  his  own  melodies  into  the  hearts  of 
all  nations,  has  yet  no  folk-games,  no  race  pageants,  no 


THE  PLAY  LIFE  OF  NEGRO  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  357 

adequate  rhythmic  movements  to  accompany  his  own  music. 
His  games  are  pitiful  imitations.  The  dance,  to  the  degree 
he  has  racialized  it,  is  not  among  the  achievements  he  is 
i5roud  to  claim.  He  possesses  without  doubt  a  latent  power 
of  play  which  only  waits  the  call  of  a  master  leader  to  de- 
velop into  a  benefit  to  the  wide  world.  His  children  should 
no  longer  be  deprived  of  the  expression  of  their  fully  de- 
veloped lives,  which  may  be  for  the  more  joyous  life  of 
all  nations. 

Let  us  discover,  if  we  may,  what  Southern  cities  are  do- 
ing toward  supplying  negro  boys  and  girls  opportunities 
for  their  play-life.  A  few  cities  include  in  the  playground 
budget  an  annual  appropriation  for  the  negro  population. 
Nashville  has  two  playgrounds,  one  of  thirty-four  acres  and 
one  of  two  acres.  During  the  summer  of  1915  the  City 
Park  Commission  opened  playgrounds  on  the  public  school 
yards.  School-teachers  volunteered  to  act  as  play  super- 
visors in  these  centers.  Paid  supervisors  will  be  put  in  the 
other  two  centers  during  the  coming  summer. 

At  Houston,  Tex.,  playgrounds  have  been  opened  on  pub- 
lic school  yards  during  the  past  two  summers.  Two  young 
women  who  were  trained  for  the  work  at  Fisk  University 
acted  as  leaders  and  supervisors  in  this  work. 

Another  Fisk  graduate.  Miss  Myrtle  Alexander,  con- 
ducted a  recreation  class  for  the  teachers  at  the  Summer 
School  of  Straight  University,  New  Orleans,  last  summer; 
and  during  the  winter  she  has  promoted  recreation  work 
in  that  city. 

Morehouse  College  and  Atlanta  University  have  con- 
ducted community  games  on  the  campus,  and  have  sent  out 
volunteers  to  supervise  play  on  one  or  two  open  places  in 
the  city.  The  Kindergarten  Association  of  Atlanta  has 
done  commendable  work  where  opportunity  was  found. 
Atlanta  also  has  one  public  playground  for  negroes. 

Students  of  Paine  College  and  Haines  Institute,  Augusta, 
Ga.,  have  conducted  orderly  play  on  some  vacant  spaces  of 
that  city.  In  the  same  city  the  Bethlehem  House  workers 
have  conducted  play  during  the  vacation  months  in  one 


358  DEMOCRACY  IN   EARNEST 

playground.  Two  other  playgrounds  in  Augusta  are 
equipped  and  supervised  by  negroes  out  of  their  own  be- 
nevolence. 

At  the  mining  camp  of  Dolomite,  Ala.,  an  attracti\^ 
schoolhouse  has  been  built  and  a  playground  equipped  with 
inexpensive  but  adequate  apparatus  for  the  school  children. 
A  school-teacher  in  Cincinnati  has  demonstrated  what  can 
be  done  under  the  trying  circumstances  of  limited  space 
and  meager  equipment.  A  narrow  alley  between  two  build- 
ings has  been  thoroughly  cleaned  and  converted  into  a 
playground  for  relays  of  classes.  Baseball  is  played  in  a 
vacant  lot  in  Augusta  under  the  supervision  of  a  volunteer 
student  director.  Among  private  enterprises,  the  play- 
grounds of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Louis- 
ville are  deserving  of  highest  commendation.  The  Rev. 
John  Little,  Superintendent  of  the  Mission,  is  heroically 
striving  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  neighborhood.  He  has 
utilized  the  energies  of  the  boys  in  enlarging  the  play  space 
and  building  a  bath  house.  The  Bethlehem  Houses  of  the 
Southern  Methadist  Church  are  conducting  high-grade  work 
in  kindergarten,  Boy  Scouts,  and  Camp  Fire  Girls  activi- 
ties. Some  white  college  men  through  the  Student  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  are  conducting  clubs  and  coaching  teams  for  col- 
ored boys. 

There  are  doubtless  other  illustrations  of  playground 
work  among  colored  children ;  but  after  due  credit  is  given, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  play  life  of  negro  boys  and  girls 
is  a  social  need  not  provided  for  and  but  slightly  recog- 
nized. Vast  numbers  of  colored  children  are  entirely  out 
of  the  reach  of  any  provision  for  their  recreational  life. 
Parks  and  playgrounds  may  be  reported  in  some  municipal 
yearbooks,  but  they  may  be  far  removed  from  the  center 
of  negro  population.  There  is  a  recreation  park  in  a  cer- 
tain city  two  miles  removed  from  the  negroes,  so  that  a  . 
working  mother  must  spend  an  entire  day's  wages  to  get 
her  family  to  its  attractions  and  home  again.  It  is  not  a 
comfort  to  the  social  conscience  to  reflect  that  in  one  part 
of  a  large  city  is  a  play  park,  beautiful,  inviting,  and  health- 


THE  PLAY  LIFE  OF  NEGRO  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  359 

giving,  and  in  another  part  of  the  same  city  children  are 
playing,  for  want  of  a  better  place,  in  the  muck  of  an  open 
sewer.  We  are  proVid  of  the  one,  justly;  the  other  is  our 
social  shame.  Hosts  of  negro  children  throng  the  streets 
and  alleys  and  seek  the  satisfaction  of  their  play  instinct 
in  narrow,  crowded  spaces,  in  the  midst  of  garbage  and  ash 
heaps,  in  and  around  washtubs  and  boiling  kettles,  under 
the  house  with  chickens  and  pigs,  playing  hide  and  seek 
in  surface  closets,  prisoners'  base  in  back-yard  clutter, 
and  baseball  in  quarters  so  restricted  that  one  could  not 
cuss  a  cat  without  getting  a  mouthful  of  hair. 

In  the  full,  free,  joyous  sense,  children  of  the  alley  and 
depot  platforms  may  not  be  said  to  play  at  all.  They  stand 
around,  forever  in  somebody's  way ;  they  crouch  against  old 
abandoned  buildings  and  retail  the  idle  gossip  and  worse  of 
idle  minds ;  they  fight  a  good  deal ;  and  they  stoop  over  the 
mud  or  dust  of  the  alleyways  rolling  bones  half  a  day  at  a 
time.  They  learn  quite  a  bit  of  the  white  man's  civilization 
during  these  years  of  unjoyous  existence.  If  white  boys  ap- 
pear in  these  environs,  it  is  a  signal  for  war,  and  stones 
crowd  the  already  overtaxed  atmosphere.  The  coming  of 
"pore  white  trash"  is  the  occasion  of  renewed  hostilities  be- 
tween the  gingham  dog  and  the  calico  cat.  The  air  is  littered 
an  hour  or  so  with  bits  of  gingham  and  calico. 

Thus  the  small  negro  child  of  the  alley  and  back  street 
is  prepared  for  life  in  our  glorious  democracy.  The  chimes 
from  neighboring  cathedral  spires  boom  out  over  his  dwell- 
ings, but  not  to  invite  him  to  the  sanctuary.  The  public 
library  throws  its  shadows  across  his  shack,  but  all  he  re- 
ceives from  that  structure  is  its  shadow.  The  playground 
for  white  children  is  often  nearer  to  his  home  than  it  is 
to  the  homes  of  the  happy  children  playing  in  it,  but  he 
calls  doodle  bugs  under  the  front  steps.  He  has  few  com- 
panions or  playmates  at  home,  because  he  has  no  place  for 
them;  and  if  he  goes  into  the  open  streets  for  his  games, 
he  is  the  victim  of  the  unregulated  tyranny  of  the  larger 
boys. 

Many  a  negro  child  thus  eats  his  morsel  alone,  with  no 


360  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

companion  but  his  hard-working  mother,  and  nothing  to 
do  but  to  keep  out  of  the  way.  It  was  just  such  a  lonely 
child  as  this,  playing  with  a  yarn  ball  in  his  mother's  back 
yard,  that  started  the  fire  which  consumed  thirty-six  blocks 
in  East  Nashville.  Many  months  of  weary  toil  will  not  be 
sufficient  to  restore  the  loss  that  child's  perfectly  harmless 
but  unregulated  instinct  brought  to  the  city. 

What  provisions  have  we  made  for  the  play  of  boys  and 
girls  in  the  rural  districts?  It  does  not  require  much  time 
to  answer:  "Nothing."  It  is  not  necessary  to  add  the  modi- 
fying clause,  "as  yet,"  for  there  is  neither  confession  of 
failure  nor  promise  of  amendment  in  our  attitude  to  the 
country  child.  We  have  always  thought  of  country  negroes 
as  a  happy,  free-hearted  folk,  even  in  days  of  slavery.  We 
picture  them  in  our  imagination  as  a  singing,  shouting, 
dancing  group,  without  serious  responsibility  for  to-day  or 
grave  concern  for  to-morrow.  They  are  supposed  to  find 
their  recreation  at  county  fairs  and  at  circus  day  in  the 
city.  The  simple  truth  is  that  the  life  of  the  colored  boys 
and  girls  in  rural  districts  is  a  dreary,  uninteresting  ex- 
istence. There  is  little  team  play  and  little,  if  any,  com- 
petitive sports.  The  country  churches  do  not  make  pro- 
vision for  this  demand  of  life,  and  the  country  schools  leave 
the  children  to  their  own  unassisted  invention  in  the  mat- 
ters of  play  and  recreation.  Negroes  in  rural  districts 
are  making  surprising  advancement  in  farm  and  home  life, 
but  community  play  has  not  yet  so  much  as  come  into  ex- 
istence. 

This  introduces  us  to  the  last  phase  of  our  discussion. 
What  are  the  agencies  available  for  advancing  the  play 
life  of  negro  boys  and  girls? 

We  mention  first  municipal  boards  and  playground 
commissions.  Public  parks  and  playgrounds  supported  out 
of  the  taxpayers'  money  have  been  found  valuable  for  white 
children,  and  the  conclusion  is  that  the  city  authorities 
should  make  parks  and  playgrounds  available  for  negro 
children.  There  is  absolutely  no  argument  in  equity  that 
would  deliberately  overlook  so  large  a  proportion  of  our 


THE  PLAY  LIFE  OF  NEGRO  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  361 

population  as  the  negroes  in  Southern  cities.  We  believe 
it  to  be  good  policy  and  good  citizenship  to  urge  the  claims 
of  negro  children  before  city  commissioners,  and  to  insist 
upon  the  same  wisdom  in  locating  play  spaces  for  negroes 
as  for  white  children.  Neither  city  planning  nor  city 
beautifying  and  rebuilding  after  great  disasters  can  be 
complete  without  an  equitable  consideration  of  the  colored 
population. 

We  should  make  larger  use  of  our  public  school  yards, 
for  play  has  its  undoubted  educational  advantages,  and  the 
community  has  the  right  to  the  school  yard.  This  feature 
of  school  life  can  be  advanced  in  both  urban  and  rural  dis- 
tricts with  little  outlay  of  money. 

The  negro  churches  should  be  urged  to  give  more  at- 
tention to  community  play  than  they  are  doing.  They  may 
well  do  this  in  the  interest  of  the  moral  life  of  young  people 
and  because  well-conducted  community  play  is  an  aid  in 
inspiring  race  loyalty.  It  may  not  be  possible  or  desirable 
always  to  use  church  buildings  and  grounds  for  actual  play, 
although  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  children  playing  on  the 
lawn  can  be  less  adornment  of  the  sacred  inclosure  of  a 
churchyard  than  a  blackboard  advertising  next  Sunday's 
sermon.  But,  at  all  events,  church  instruction  may  be 
utilized  to  inspire  religious  people  in  the  sacred  duty  of 
making  childhood  joyous  and  happy. 

Preachers  and  religious  leaders  may  well  ponder  these 
words  of  Professor  Simeon  N.  Patten:  "Whatever  unifies 
mankind,  whatever  rids  men  of  vice  and  misery,  whatever 
frees  them  from  fear  and  want,  whatever  takes  off  the 
pressure  of  overwork,  is  religion." 

If  there  is  anything  good  in  boys'  clubs  and  girls'  clubs, 
boys'  corn  clubs  and  girls'  tomato  clubs,  Boy  Scouts  and 
Camp  Fire  Girls,  and  all  similar  movements  that  inject 
the  spirit  of  play  into  the  midst  of  useful  activities,  we 
should  do  all  in  our  power  to  make  these  benefits  available 
for  negro  boys  and  girls.  Boy  Scouts  and  Camp  Fire  Girls 
are  fostered  by  national  organizations,  and  to  be  of  great- 
est value  local  patrols  must  be  affiliated  with  the  national 


362  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

movement.  Negro  Scouts  should  be  recognized  as  part  of 
the  national  movement,  without  limitation  or  restriction 
in  their  membership. 

Let  us  play  more  with  our  children.  Let  us  make  it 
possible  for  all  our  children  to  play.  Let  us  release  our 
children  from  hate  and  fear,  from  too  much  idleness  and 
too  much  work,  from  stifled  instincts  and  prejudices.  So 
will  we  advance  the  safety  and  glory  of  our  nation. 


HOUSING  AND  COMMUNITY  HEALTH  AMONG 
NEGROES 

F.  A.   M'KENZIE,  PH.D.,  PRESIDENT  OF  FISK  UNIVERSITY, 

NASHVILLE,    TENN. 

I  AM  not  here  to  repeat  what  you  already  know  about 
the  importance  of  health,  nor  of  the  significance  of  proper 
housing. 

Why  should  I  remind  you  of  Dr.  Ihlder's  statement  of 
last  year  that  there  is  perhaps  only  one  American  city  pro- 
viding every  house  and  every  cabin  with  pure  water  and 
sanitary  closets — namely.  Savannah,  Ga.  ?  Why  should  I 
quote  statistics  to  show  the  frightful  financial  drain  upon 
our  nation  involved  in  preventable  sickness  and  death? 
Why  should  I  remind  you  of  the  fact  that  bad  housing  is  a 
main  cause  of  these  losses,  both  to  the  residents  in  the  bad 
houses  and  to  their  neighbors  in  the  good  houses? 

No  man  of  intelligence  and  conscience  needs  telling. 
He  is  already  aware  of  the  facts  and  stirred  with  the 
thought  of  his  obligation  to  change  things.  But  even  in 
his  mind  there  may  be  doubts  as  to  the  feasibility  of  get- 
ting results,  and  more  particularly  doubts  as  to  the  methods 
of  going  about  the  great  undertaking.  To  this  doubter, 
let  me  reply:  We  do  know  what  can  be  done,  and  we  do 
know  what  tremendous  gains  will  follow  certain  policies 
and  practices. 

Of  course  one  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  knowledge 
essential  to  secure  these  gains  is  not  widespread  in  society. 


HOUSING  AND  COMMUNITY  HEALTH  363 

Results  will  depend  upon  popular  education  through  faith- 
ful leadership.  We  need,  like  the  servant  of  Elisha,  to 
have  our  eyes  opened  to  the  host  of  angels,  warrior  angels, 
if  you  please,  who  are  ready  to  give  us  help.  The  seven 
thousand  who  had  not  bent  the  knee  to  the  Baal  of  dis- 
couragement and  disbelief  do  not  as  yet  know  who  their 
fellow  believers  are.  It  is  for  this  body  to  summon  them 
into  the  temple,  there  to  join  their  vows  that  the  kingdom 
coming  down  out  of  the  heavens  may  be  realized  evermore 
in  the  cities  of  men. 

Let  me  then  suggest  a  mode  of  bringing  to  light  and 
of  making  effective  the  leadership  now  latent  in  every  part 
of  the  South.  My  main  suggestion  is  that  this  Congress 
has  the  best  opportunity  of  any  organization  or  institu- 
tion to  start  a  widespread  effective  movement  for  the  im- 
provement of  health  through  wise  housing  and  sanitation 
regulations.  Popular  thought  echoes  the  thought  of  popu- 
lar leaders.  Unofficial  and  unselfish  leadership  is  the  most 
potent  in  the  world.  The  results  we  have  in  mind  involve 
primarily  publicity,  secondly  legislation,  thirdly  law  en- 
forcement. I  suggest  a  committee  to  concentrate  wise 
opinion,  to  diffuse  sound  information,  to  create  public 
sentiment,  to  secure  effective  legislation,  and  to  support 
adequate  executive  action.  Doubtless  there  is  a  wide  range 
of  welfare  movements  that  should  receive  our  attention. 
But  we  will  do  well  if  we  can  take  them  up  in  succession, 
hammering  at  each  one  until  that  one  is  attained  before 
going  on  to  the  next.  Diffused  and  scattered  firing  will 
bring  few  results. 

Let  me  assume  that  in  such  a  program  housing  and  sani- 
tation would  be  the  first  subject  for  consideration.  Our 
unit  of  operation  to  be  effective  cannot  well  be  larger  than 
the  State,  and  probably  should  not  be  smaller  than  the 
State,  although  some  of  our  most  significant  work  must 
be  done  in  the  counties  and  cities. 

I  therefore  suggest  that,  after  this  body  has  indorsed 
the  general  plan  here  outlined,  a  committee  of  active  think- 
ers and  active  workers,  men  of  broadest  and  deepest  views, 


364  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

profound  believers  in  the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth,  be  appointed  for  each  State.  This  prelimi- 
nary committee,  consisting  of  probably  not  more  than  five, 
should  then  be  empowered  to  gather  together  a  State  Com- 
mittee of  not  to  exceed  fifty  men  and  women  of  influence 
and  power,  as  well  as  knowledge  and  conscience. 

The  State  Committee  would  assume  charge  of  the  whole 
movement  within  the  State,  and  become  responsible  for 
the  early  realization  of  our  objects  within  that  State.  They 
would  be  empowered  to  create  auxiliary  committees  for 
special  functions,  such  as  publicity,  and  still  other  com- 
mittees within  the  counties  and  cities  to  bring  about  har- 
monious action  within  those  subdivisions. 

In  all  that  I  have  said  thus  far  there  has  been  implied 
the  necessity  of  persuading  the  public  to  cooperate  in 
securing  the  objects  desired.  Every  citizen  has  a  stake  in 
this  matter,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  old  and  the  young, 
the  white  and  the  black.  No  man  liveth  to  himself  and  no 
man  dieth  to  himself.  It  is  evident  not  less  to  you  than 
to  me  that  if  our  Southern  communities  are  to  be  cured  of 
their  insanitation  and  ill  health  the  houses  of  the  colored 
people  as  well  as  the  white  people  must  be  provided  with 
the  essentials  of  decent  living  and  correct  sanitation.  The 
colored  people  must  be  persuaded,  not  less  than  the  white 
people,  of  the  necessity  of  care  and  cleanliness.  They  must 
be  taught  to  join  in  the  plans  for  their  welfare.  Many 
among  them  are  already  convinced,  and  at  work  up  to  the 
limits  of  their  power.  But  the  great  body  still  needs  con- 
vincing leadership  in  order  to  march  to  the  Canaan  of  bet- 
ter things.  This  is  not  a  race  problem,  but  a  social  prob- 
lem, which  can  be  solved  only  by  the  united  efforts  of  all 
in  the  community. 

Is  cooperation  by  the  two  races  really  feasible?  I 
believe  it  is,  and  wish  to  make  appeal  here  for  another  dem- 
onstration of  the  fact.  The  recent  disaster  in  Nashville, 
which  involved  both  races  in  about  the  same  numbers,  pic- 
tured clearly  the  common  qualities  of  misery  and  of  sym'- 
pathy,  and  demonstrated  how  ready  the  white  race  is  to 


HOUSING  AND  COMMUNITY  HEALTH  365 

supply  relief  for  the  colored  as  well  as  for  the  white.  It 
illustrated  by  demonstration  the  possibility  of  cooperation 
of  the  white  and  the  colored  in  investigation  of  needs  and 
in  distribution  of  relief.  I  believe  it  demonstrated  how 
valuable  was  the  intelligent  assistance  of  colored  workers 
in  the  handling  of  a  critical  situation  for  their  own  people. 
The  white  and  the  colored  headquarters  were  at  first  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  same  street,  but  in  the  end  they  were 
in  the  same  building.  Cooperation  has  minimized  the  bur- 
den of  poverty  which  came  upon  the  whole  community  and 
has  alleviated  what  otherwise  would  have  been  a  permanent 
charge  of  serious  proportions  upon  that  community. 

I  realize  that  there  are  strong  and  critical  differences  of 
opinion  between  members  of  the  two  races,  but  it  is  my 
plea  that  both  races  should  agree  to  cooperate  heartily 
upon  those  policies  upon  which  they  think  alike,  leaving 
other  policies  for  other  occasions  of  discussion  and  dif- 
ference. 

It  was  my  privilege  last  December  to  address  the  Chi- 
cago Branch  of  the  National  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Colored  People.  My  auditors  were  of  both  races, 
but  preponderantly  colored.  At  that  time  I  ventured  to  as- 
sert that  there  was  a  large  program  of  welfare  projects  in 
which  the  white  people  of  the  country.  North  and  South, 
were  ready  to  join  for  the  benefit  of  colored  people.  I  ad- 
mitted that  there  are  many  and  serious  points  upon  which 
there  are  large  differences  of  opinion  as  between  the  races. 
My  plea  to  them  was  that  we  should  take  up  our  various 
issues  and  problems  separately,  in  order  that  differences 
upon  some  points  should  not  jeopardize  the  success  of 
other  movements  upon  which  there  was  agreement.  That 
would  allow  of  concentration  upon  some  matters,  and  yet 
without  prejudice  to  the  rights  of  opposition  upon  other 
times  and  occasions.  I  pleaded  for  conciliation,  harmony, 
and  cooperation  so  far  as  like  ideas  made  that  possible. 

To-day  I  make  a  similar  plea.  As  a  white  man  at  the 
head  of  a  colored  school  I  venture  to  repeat  my  belief  that 
in  large  prq^Dlems  affecting  all  races  of  men  alike,  and  re- 


366  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

quiring  uniform  solution  in  order  that  either  race  may  be 
provided  for  and  protected,  it  is  not  only  feasible  but  essen- 
tial that  cooperation  be  brought  about. 

If  either  race  could  succeed  alone,  there  might  be  reason 
for  attempting  to  work  alone,  and  so  to  provide  for  the  races 
in  succession.  But  there  can  be  no  partial  solution.  Health 
for  all  or  danger  for  all,  is  the  axiomatic  phrase  to  which 
we  must  listen.  A  healthy  white  race  requires  a  healthy 
black  race.  Moreover,  since  all  must  be  in  time  provided 
for,  it  is  economy  to  provide  for  all  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  era. 

What  the  program  in  its  details  must  be,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary now  to  inquire.  Our  premises  are  substantially  all 
agreed  upon.  Action  is  the  necessary  outcome  of  those 
premises.  Let  this  conference  proclaim  its  belief,  and  de- 
mand that  action  be  taken.  Then  let  it  name  five  men  in 
each  State,  put  the  matter  in  their  hands,  and  call  for  a 
report  of  work  and  results  next  year.  The  results  of  such 
a  competition  in  good  works  would  be  that  we  would  soon 
require  an  interstate  welfare  commission  to  keep  some 
States  from  securing  undue  advantages  in  through  traffic 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Biracial  cooperation  and  prompt 
action  cannot  fail  of  immeasurable  benefits  to  every  part 
of  the  South. 


WHAT  CAN  THE  CHURCH  DO  TO  PROMOTE  GOOD 
WILL  BETWEEN  THE  RACES? 

BISHOP  GEORGE  W.   CLINTON,  D.D. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  if  we  can  once  find  the  causes  that 
underlie  race  troubles  we  shall  have  made  substantial  head- 
way in  solving  the  problem  which  I  hope  and  believe  the 
good  people  of  both  races  are  anxious  to  have  amicably  and 
righteously  settled  once  for  all. 

It  has  been  my  earnest  desire  to  ascertain  the  chief  causes 
that  make  race  relations  in  our  country  a  problem  and  I 
have  concluded  that  the  chief  causes  are  as  follows : 


WHAT  CAN  THE  CHURCH  DO  367 

The  first  is  a  lack  of  understanding  of  each  other.  I 
have  often  heard  the  remark  that  the  Southern  white  man 
understands  the  Negro  perfectly,  and  if  left  alone  will 
work  out  by  himself  a  satisfactory  solution  of  all  the  race 
problems.  Those  who  make  this  statement  are  sincere  in 
the  belief  that  they  are  stating  the  whole  truth.  But  I 
believe  a  close  and  thorough  investigation  of  the  matter  will 
soon  convince  them  that  they  are  mistaken.  I  give  it  as  my 
candid  opinion  that  the  present-day  white  man,  North  or 
South,  does  not  understand  the  present-day  Negro,  and 
that  he  has  failed  to  put  forth  the  proper  effort  to  try  to 
understand  him.  Prior  to  the  inauguration  of  the  Socio- 
logical Congress  all  the  movements  set  in  motion  by  white 
people  for  the  study  of  the  race  question  were  movements 
in  which  white  people  were  the  sole  promoters  and  sole 
actors — for  example,  such  movements  as  that  inaugurated 
by  the  late  Edgar  Gardner  Murphy  and  the  study  of  the 
race  questions  by  Southern  universities,  all  of  which  are 
moving  in  the  right  direction  and  have  made  for  progress, 
but  none  of  which  can  thoroughly  grasp  the  situation  and 
provide  the  ultimate  remedy  because  they  have  left  out 
the  man  who  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  problem — 
the  Negro  himself.  The  play  of  Hamlet  can  never  be  staged 
successfully  with  Hamlet  left  out.  I  believe  the  Southern 
Sociological  Congress  will  have  greater  success,  because  it 
is  pursuing  the  right  course.  It  is  inviting  the  cooperation 
of  the  Negro  in  the  solution  of  such  problems  as  are  common 
to  black  and  white  alike. 

The  second  difficulty  as  I  see  it  is  the  failure  on  the  part 
of  our  white  brethren  in  the  Church  and  elsewhere  to  fully 
recognize  the  changed  status  in  the  life,  condition,  and  aspi- 
rations of  the  colored  people.  It  seems  to  delight  some  of 
our  good  white  friends  to  rehearse  the  pleasant  relations 
and  substantial  friendships  and  deeds  of  kindness  that 
accompanied  the  relations  of  the  ante-bellum  Negi'o  and  his 
master,  relations  which  continue  to  exist  among  many  of 
them  since  that  time.  These  same  people  talk  of  a  "New" 
South  and  new  conditions  and  new  relations  as  they  affect 


368  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

everything  except  the  Negro  that  has  come  upon  the  stage 
since  the  events  which  changed  the  relations  between  master 
and  slave.  My  friends,  there  is  a  New  Negro  just  as  there 
is  a  New  South,  and  this  New  Negro  is  an  essential  part  of 
that  New  South.  It  follows  that  people  who  deal  with  this 
Negro  cannot  expect  to  be  successful  in  their  dealings  if  they 
apply  methods  w^hich  were  employed  under  the  old  system. 
Without  any  desire  to  discuss  or  even  consider  the  so-called 
"social  equality"  question — a  question  that  has  no  rightful 
place  in  the  discussion  of  race  relations  on  the  broad  and 
high  plane  of  justice  and  equity — I  wish  to  assert  that  a 
failure  to  recognize  the  changed  status  in  the  life,  condi- 
tion, and  aspiration  of  the  Negro  will  result  in  failure  to 
properly  adjust  race  relations  and  bring  about  that  good 
will  that  is  so  desirable,  and  so  much  to  be  hoped  for  among 
the  peoples  that  God  has  placed  so  close  together  in  this 
pleasant  land. 

A  third  element  which  makes  the  problem  of  race  rela- 
tions is  a  lack  of  the  spirit  of  hearty  cooperation  in  the 
plans  that  are  best  suited  to  promote  good  will  between 
races.  If  race  relations  are  to  be  changed,  especially  for 
the  better,  and  if  the  Negro  is  to  make  any  substantial 
contribution  to  that  change,  he  must  join  hands  with,  and 
give  his  hearty  cooperation  to,  the  white  man.  I  think  I 
can  speak  for  my  people  and  assure  you  that  they  are  ready 
to  join  hands  with  the  white  people  in  all  the  efforts  and 
plans  set  forth  by  the  Sociological  Congress.  I  think  the 
interest  and  response  already  shown  during  these  meetings 
indicate  most  unmistakably  their  willingness  for  coopera- 
tion. In  my  own  experience  in  dealing  with  men  I  have 
found  that  it  often  happens  that  where  there  is  apparent 
wide  disagreement  in  theory-  there  follows  hearty  coopera- 
tion when  actual  work  and  some  particular  service  are 
undertaken.  I  hope  that  this  Congress  will  not  fail  to  use 
to  the  utmost  the  capable,  earnest,  and  broad-minded  men 
and  women  of  my  race  who  are  willing  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  promote  the  welfare  of  our  beloved  Southland. 

A  fourth  thought  is  a  marked  hesitancy  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  to  apply  the  only  remedy  that  can  be  depended 


WHAT  CAN  THE  CHURCH  DO  369 

upon  to  promote  and  perpetuate  good  will  between  the  races, 
and  that  is  a  practical  and  faithful  application  of  the  reli- 
gion of  Jesus  Christ  as  taught  and  exemplified  by  him  and 
by  his  disciples,  and  set  forth  in  the  Holy  Scriptui'es.  It  is 
undeniably  true  that  there  is  still  a  wide  gap  between  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  and  their  practical  application  by  the 
Church  of  to-day.  Brotherhood  does  not  mean  the  same 
among  us  that  it  meant  to  Jesus.  It  is  still  hard  to  make 
the  deed  correspond  to  the  profession.  So  long  as  the 
Church  hesitates  to  follow  our  Lord's  example,  we  need  not 
look  for  the  kingdom  to  prevail  in  the  world. 

In  my  further  remarks  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  what 
the  Church  can  do  to  promote  good  will  between  the  races : 

First,  the  Church  can  acquaint  itself  with  the  conditions 
and  needs  of  the  people  close  at  hand,  and  so  provide  a  basis 
of  fact  on  which  to  lay  its  plans  for  bringing  about  better 
race  relations.  In  this  day  in  which  the  Church  is  being 
quickened  to  a  sense  of  its  mission  to  heathen  peoples  and 
is  busying  itself  with  the  opportunities  and  claims  of  for- 
eign missions,  there  is  danger  of  neglecting  the  duties  we 
owe  to  those  who  are  near  us.  The  challenge  of  the  remote 
must  not  make  us  blind  to  the  opportunities  of  the  imme- 
diate ;  the  lure  of  the  distant  must  not  make  us  heedless  of 
the  claims  of  those  who  are  closest  to  us.  I  am  very  much 
afraid  that  the  average  Church  member  knows  a  great  deal 
more  about  China  than  he  does  of  the  section  of  his  city 
where  the  colored  people  live;  his  good  wife  can  tell  you 
more  about  the  children  of  India  than  she  can  about  the 
children  of  the  woman  who  washes  her  clothes.  In  all  con- 
science there  can  be  no  apology  for  this  kind  of  ignorance. 
But  the  Church  can  remove  it.  The  Church,  once  aroused, 
can  be  depended  upon  to  get  facts  without  partiality,  and 
to  reach  conclusions  without  a  prejudice. 

Second,  the  Church  should  emphasize  the  spiritual  worth 
of  every  man  as  the  essential  thing;  that  questions  of  race, 
color,  and  the  like,  while  material,  are  at  the  same  time  only 
incidental  and  secondary.  We  must  all  agree  with  these 
words  of  Dr.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst:  "When  Christ  looked 

24 


370  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

upon  a  man,  the  thing  that  filled  up  his  angle  of  vision  was 
the  man's  soul,  with  everything  that  the  possession  of  a 
soul  indicates  for  the  years  temporal  and  the  ages  eternal. 
You  and  I  are  not  in  the  habit  of  looking  upon  him  in  that 
way,  and  we  are  not  fit  to  deal  with  him,  and  not  compe- 
tent to  do  anything  substantial  for  him  till  we  do."  Happily 
we  are  all  agreed  that  the  Negro  has  a  soul,  but  that  is  not 
always  the  basic  assumption  in  dealing  with  him.  However, 
the  Church  can  take  no  other  view  if  it  would  follow  the 
obvious  example  of  its  great  Founder.  And  in  this,  as  in 
other  things,  we  need  not  be  afraid  that  his  example  will 
lead  us  to  any  other  result  than  the  consummation  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  in  all  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  promise 
of  God ;  for  "God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion."  He  has 
not  put  anything  in  the  Negro  whose  development  under 
his  plans  will  work  the  least  disadvantage  to  the  white  man. 

".    .    .    Ask  not  from  what  land  he  came, 

Nor  where  his  youth  was  nursed; 
If  pure  the  stream,  it  matters  not 

The  spot  from  whence  it  burst; 
The  palace  nor  the  hovel. 

Nor  where  his  life  began — 
It  is  not  that,  but  answer  me, 

*Is  he,  within,  a  man?'  " 

Third,  the  Church  can  promote  good  will  between  the 
races  by  calling  attention  to  the  best  side  of  the  Negro,  by 
acquainting  itself  with  all  the  evidences  and  signs  of  true 
progress  made  by  the  race,  and  by  judging  the  Negro  by  his 
best  rather  than  by  his  worst.  We  are  all  familiar  with  the 
tendency  to  look  at  the  worst  side  of  the  race  and  to  empha- 
size our  weaknesses  and  our  failings.  Many  newspapers 
seem  to  count  it  their  duty  to  society  to  herald  abroad  this 
kind  of  news.  If  the  Church  is  a  messenger  of  "good  news," 
here  is  some  "good  news" — good  news  about  the  Negro — 
that  will  be  news  indeed  to  many  of  its  hearers.  The  Church 
has  a  special  commission  to  promote  "peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men."    The  spread  of  good  makes  peace ;  the  spread 


WHAT  CAN  THE  CHURCH  DO  371 

of  evil  makes  strife — as  proof  for  which  witness  many  a 
race-riot  and  lynching. 

Fourth,  the  Church  can  begin  and  carry  forward  a  defi- 
nite movement  to  correct  and  educate  popular  sentiment 
on  the  matter  of  race  relations.  The  church  has  too  long 
allowed  the  politician  and  the  demagogue  to  be  the  molders 
and  educators  of  popular  sentiment  on  all  matters  of  race 
relations.  Meanwhile  it  has  remained  dumb  and  silent  in 
the  presence  of  the  grossest  outrages  that  constitute  a  con- 
tinual challenge  of  its  deepest  convictions  and  loudest  pro- 
fessions. Surely  the  time  has  come  for  the  Church  to  con- 
demn unsparingly  the  wanton  barbarities  perpetrated  upon 
Negroes,  innocent  and  guilty,  men  and  women,  adults  and 
children — barbarities  that  have  made  our  country,  its  lead- 
ers and  their  utterances,  a  by-word  and  a  hissing  among 
the  nations,  friend  and  foe  alike.  But  aside  from  this  the 
Church  must  take  pains  to  see  that  a  sentiment  of  justice, 
fair  play,  and  good  will  prevails  in  the  ordinary  relations 
and  quieter  times  of  life.  To  do  this  it  must  carry  on  a 
regular  program  for  the  deliberate  cultivation  of  harmony 
and  cooperation  between  the  races.  Such  a  program  will 
take  its  place  along  the  side  of  the  present  programs  for 
temperance  and  foreign  missions  and  similar  endeavors  as 
the  Church's  contribution  to  the  realization  of  the  democ- 
racy for  which  black  and  white  are  both  fighting  upon  a 
foreign  shore. 

In  the  recommendations  that  have  gone  before  I  have 
simply  attempted  to  give  a  practical  application  to  senti- 
ments that  are  upon  the  lips  of  Christians  daily.  "Whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so 
to  them."  This  James  declares  to  be  "the  royal  law."  "Be 
not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good."  This  is 
the  sovereign  specific  for  all  the  ills  of  life.  "We  then  that 
are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak."  The 
spirit  of  these  words  incorporated  into  the  life  of  our  South 
will  find  black  and  white  working  together  as  brothers  for 
the  glorious  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 


372  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 


RIGHTING  RACIAL  WRONGS  AND  MAKING 
DEMOCRACY  SAFE 

DEAN    W.    F.    TILLETT,    D.D.,    LL.D.,    VANDERBILT    UNIVERSITY, 
NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

In  the  many  discussions  concerning  the  rights  and  the 
wrongs  of  the  Negro  race  in  the  South  to  which  I  have 
listened  there  is  one  important  point  that  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  either  overlooked  entirely  or  inadequately  pre- 
sented. I  refer  to  the  well-nigh  universal  tendency  of  the 
colored  people  to  direct  their  thoughts  and  their  complaints 
almost  exclusively  to  the  shortcomings  and  injustices  and 
wrongs  of  the  white  race  against  them,  and  the  custom  of 
the  white  race  generally  to  direct  their  thoughts  and  com- 
plaints almost  wholly  against  the  shortcomings  and  sins 
of  the  colored  people.  Now  this  is  in  my  judgment  just  the 
opposite  of  what  should  be  if  the  two  races  are  to  deal  effec- 
tively with  these  rights  and  wrongs.  And  in  speaking  thus 
I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  this  charge  does  not 
apply  to  many  fair-minded  and  courageous  members  of  both 
races. 

The  colored  people  generally,  however,  are  accustomed 
to  put  the  emphasis  in  their  complaints  and  grievances  not 
on  the  wrongs  their  people  do,  but  on  the  wrongs  they  suffer 
at  the  hands  of  the  white  race — on  their  failure  to  receive  the 
just  treatment  they  are  entitled  to  as  American  citizens  far 
more  than  on  those  sins  and  crimes  of  members  of  their  own 
race  which  excite  the  outbursts  of  passion  and  violence  on 
the  part  of  the  white  race  that  find  expression  in  mob  vio- 
lence and  in  many  other  ways.  The  colored  people,  again, 
often  complain,  and  very  justly  so,  that  the  wages  paid  their 
people  for  their  work  are  wholly  inadequate  not  only  to  their 
just  deserts  but  to  their  imperative  needs  in  living  honest 
and  virtuous  lives,  but  they  seem  to  give,  for  aught  that 
appears  to  the  contrary,  but  secondary  and  indifferent  con- 
sideration to  the  character  and  quality  and  honesty  of  the 
work  done.  They  complain,  and  very  justly  so,  as  to  the 
unsanitary  conditions  under  which  they  are,  in  many  places, 


RACIAL  WRONGS  AND  DEMOCRACY  373 

compelled  to  live — conditions  which  often  make  honesty 
and  virtue  difficult  if  not  impossible — but  they  give  but  sec- 
ondary and  indifferent  consideration  to  the  unsanitary  way 
in  which  their  people  live  where  conditions  are  sanitary,  and 
to  the  petty  acts  of  dishonesty  and  sacrifices  of  virtue 
chargeable  against  their  people  where  conditions  are  entirely 
favorable  to  honest  and  virtuous  living.  The  colored  race, 
again,  is  in  my  judgment  too  much  given  to  thinking  about 
what  the  government  and  the  nation  and  Christian  people 
owe  them  and  can  and  should  do  for  them,  rather  than  what 
they  can  and  should  do  for  themselves,  and  what  they  owe  to 
the  government  and  how  they  can  as  a  race  best  serve  the 
nation. 

But  the  white  people  make  the  same  mistake,  and  are 
guilty  of  the  same  misplacing  of  emphasis  in  their  com- 
plaints, in  the  matter  of  racial  rights  and  wrongs,  which 
complaints,  as  I  see  it,  should  be  directed  first  of  all  and  most 
of  all  not  against  the  shortcomings  of  the  weaker  and  more 
dependent  race,  but  upon  the  shortcomings  and  wrongs  and 
injustices  with  which  the  white  people  themselves  are  plainly 
chargeable.  To  see  that  the  Negro  race  shall  have  justice 
done  them,  and  that  white  people  who  are  guilty  of  mob 
violence  shall  be  prosecuted  and  punished,  is  a  duty  which 
the  w^hite  race  owes  not  only  to  the  colored  man,  but  to 
itself  and  to  our  Christian  democracy.  When  the  white  man 
has  done  this,  then  let  him  come  out  with  his  strong  con- 
demnation and  punishment  of  the  crimes  of  colored  men, 
recognizing,  however,  that  they  are  the  crimes  of  those  who, 
though  they  be  themselves  Negroes,  do  not  properly  repre- 
sent the  Negro  race,  and  for  whose  crimes  the  Negroes  as 
a  race  ought  not  to  be  held  responsible.  Let  the  white  man 
first  insist  that  the  colored  people  who  work  for  him — the 
cooks,  the  washerwomen,  the  day  laborers — be  paid  fair  and 
adequate  living  wages  and  be  surrounded  by  conditions  that 
make  honest  work  and  virtuous  living  not  only  possible  but 
easy,  and  then  let  him  demand  that  these  colored  workers 
do  more  work  and  better  work  and  that  they  be  clean  and 
honest  and  virtuous  in  the  lives  they  live. 

And,  in  the  same  way,  I  contend  that  one  of  the  first  and 
most  important  steps  in  the  cure  of  race  troubles  is  that  the 


374  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

colored  man's  first  and  loudest  and  most  incessant  complaint 
shall  be  against  those  sins  and  crimes  of  members  of  his  own 
race  which  call  forth  the  vengeance  and  violence  of  the  white 
race,  and  which  vengeance  and  violence  do  not,  alas,  content 
themselves  with  the  punishment  of  the  guilty,  but  often 
involve  those  who  are  entirely  innocent  of  any  wrong.  Let 
the  colored  man  insist,  in  talking  with  and  to  his  own  peo- 
ple, that  they  shall  by  doing  more  work  and  better  work  and 
being  genuinely  honest  in  their  work,  make  higher  wages 
reasonable  and  just,  and  then  let  him  insist  that  the  colored 
worker  be  paid  better  wages.  I  do  not  know  of  anything 
that  will  tend  more  to  bring  about  and  maintain  pleasant 
and  helpful  relations  between  the  white  and  the  colored 
races  than  for  each  race,  in  considering  and  discussing  the 
rights  and  wrongs  of  the  colored  man,  to  place  the  emphasis 
upon  the  shortcomings  and  sins  of  his  own  people.  Let  each 
put  himself  in  the  other  man's  place  and  thus  help  to  right 
all  existing  racial  wrongs  by  applying  the  golden  rule  to  this 
as  to  all  other  relations  between  human  beings. 

No  democracy  can  be  regarded  as  safe  and  consistent 
that  allows  mobs  to  put  men  to  death  and  to  go  unpunished, 
no  matter  what  race  they  belong  to.  Whatever  crimes  may 
call  forth  a  mob,  the  mob  itself,  if  it  go  unpunished,  is  the 
crime  that  is  absolutely  irreconcilable  with  any  and  all  true 
democracy.  Alas  for  us  if,  after  making  the  world  safe  for 
democracy,  we  ourselves  have  only  such  a  democracy  to  pre- 
sent to  the  world  as  is  itself  so  weak  and  unsafe  that  it  can- 
not or  will  not  prevent  men  from  organizing  themselves  into 
mobs  that  defy  the  law  and  put  men  to  death,  and  these  often 
the  innocent  as  well  as  the  guilty,  and  then  go  unpunished. 
I  am  myself  a  democrat  in  political  antecedents  and  affilia- 
tions, but  I  am  in  favor  of  making  such  changes  in  our  State 
and  Federal  laws  that  whenever  and  wherever  State  laws 
and  courts  fail  to  arrest  and  punish  mobs  that  are  guilty  of 
crimes,  the  Federal  courts  shall  at  once  assume  jurisdic- 
tion. If  this  can  be  done,  mobs  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the 
past  and  this  foul  blemish  upon  our  American  democracy 
will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 


X.    THE  CHURCH  EFFICIENT  IN 
SAVING  LIFE 


What  of  the  Church? 

The  Minister  as  a  Health  Propagandist 

The  Point  of  Explosion  Between  the  Spiritual  and 
the  Economic 

The  Preacher  and  Physician  Yokefellows  in  the 
Health  Campaign 

The  Church  as  the  Conserver  of  Hiunan  Life 

The  Country  Church  and  Human  Life  More  Abun- 
dant 

The  Church  Organized  for  Social  Efficiency 


WHAT  OF  THE  CHURCH? 

"The  problem  of  how  to  save  the  slums  is  no  more 
difficult  than  the  problem  of  how  to  save  the  people 
who  have  moved  away  from  them  and  are  living: 
in  the  suburbs,  indifferent  to  the  woes  of  their  fellow 
mortals.  The  world  can  be  saved  if  the  church  does 
not  save  it.  The  question  is,  Can  the  church  be 
saved  unless  it  is  doing  all  in  its  power  to  save  the 
world?"     (Graham  Taylor.) 

"The  question  is  not  alone.  Can  the  church  save 
the  masses?  but.  Can  the  church  save  itself,  except 
as  it  gives  itself  for  the  saving  of  the  world?  The 
test  of  the  church's  vitality  is  its  power  to  impart 
life  to  the  dead  mass  around  it.  When  it  ceases  to 
give  life  it  ceases  to  live.  When  it  shall  have  hope- 
lessly cut  itself  off  from  the  masses  it  will  have 
dug  its  own  grave,  no  matter  how  magnificent  that 
grave  may  be.  Such  a  church  may  prosper  as  a  social 
club,  or  it  may  maintain  a  formal  death-in-life  exist- 
ence, but  as  a  church  it  is  worse  than  a  failure, 
because  it  has  a  name  to  live,  and  is  dead."  (Isabella 
Horton.) 


THE  MINISTER  AS  A  HEALTH  PROPAGANDIST 

CHARLES  S.  GARDNER,  D.D.,  PROFESSOR  OF  SOCIOLOGY,  SOUTH- 
ERN BAPTIST  SEMINARY,  LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

Serious  illness  is  a  crisis  in  the  individual  and  family 
life  which  offers  an  opportunity  for  spiritual  ministration; 
and  no  faithful  minister  will  neglect  it.  In  the  serious  and 
quiet  air  of  the  sick  room  the  minister's  presence,  if  he  is 
wise  and  tactful,  is  appropriated,  and  his  words  of  instruc- 
tion, comfort,  and  cheer  may  be  of  therapeutic  value  for 
the  body  as  well  as  for  the  spirit.  But  is  that  his  only  rela- 
tion to  the  problem  of  health  ?  Has  he  no  function  to  per- 
form in  the  modern  health  crusade,  which  aims  not  only  to 
restore  but  to  conserve  health  ?  Does  it  lie  within  the  scope 
of  his  proper  activity?  Is  it  his  duty  to  participate  in  this 
crusade  ? 

In  the  first  place,  let  the  minister  study  the  attitude  of 
his  Master  toward  disease  and  health.  Is  it  possible  for  a 
student  of  the  life  of  Jesus  to  overlook  the  fact  that  he  was 
much  interested  in  this  matter?  Certainly  one  who  takes 
the  Gospels  at  their  face  value  as  records  of  facts  must  have 
it  forced  upon  him  that  Jesus  was  much  concerned  as  to  the 
physical  well-being  of  men.  Twenty-six  of  the  thirty-seven 
miracles  attributed  to  him  were  acts  of  healing.  He  saw 
in  sickness,  bodily  deformity,  and  nervous  disorders  evil 
conditions  to  be  removed,  and  in  their  removal  a  part  of 
his  beneficent  mission  in  this  world.  He  used  those  unfor- 
tunate conditions  as  occasions  for  giving  consolation,  and 
mainly  for  teaching  moral  and  spiritual  truth;  but  evi- 
dently he  regarded  a  sound  mental  and  physical  state  as 
normal  and  desirable  for  all  men.  How  can  we  avoid  see- 
ing that  the  fight  against  disease  is  a  part  of  his  program  ? 
Health  is  clearly  one  of  the  interests  of  the  kingdom.  We 
are  learning  through  science  that  there  is  a  strangely  close 
relation  between  our  bodily  and  spiritual  states.  Disease 
often  leads  to  spiritual  dullness  and  moral  failure,  and  sin 
often  leads  to  disease.  Health  of  body  and  soul  is  the 
insistent  Christian  ideal.  And  not  only  for  the  individual, 
but  for  the  social  life.    In  the  glorious  vision  of  the  apoc- 


378  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

alyptic  seer  he  beheld  a  city  in  which  ^ew  "the  tree  of 
life,"  through  which  flowed  "a  pure  river  of  the  water  of 
life,"  from  which  all  "filth"  and  every  "abomination,"  moral 
and  physical,  were  excluded.  Interpret  that  vision  as  you 
will — as  the  goal  of  the  world's  evolution,  or  as  a  purely 
spiritual  order  set  up  in  the  place  of  an  evil  world  destroyed 
by  divine  power — it  is  in  either  case  an  ideal  toward  which 
Christians  must  strive;  and  to  a  man  whose  heart  is  pos- 
sessed by  it  there  is  something  forever  repulsive  and  impos- 
sible in  filthy  streets,  in  contaminated  water,  in  impure 
air,  in  disease-breeding  tenements — in  everything  that  is 
not  clean  and  healthy  for  the  body  and  the  soul.  Surely  a 
preacher  who  can  live  in  a  foul  and  unhealthy  city  and  not 
lift  up  his  voice  in  protest  against  its  filth  has  not  learned 
to  love  this  magnificent  vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  how- 
ever piously  he  may  talk  about  it. 

In  the  second  place,  the  minister  should,  like  other  intel- 
ligent men,  ask  the  question,  "Why  are  people  sick?"  In 
the  days  before  there  was  any  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
causes  of  disease  there  was  no  better  answer  than  to  refer 
it  to  the  inscrutable  divine  will,  or  to  interpret  it  as  a  part 
of  the  moral  and  spiritual  discipline  of  life  ordained  by 
the  Supreme  Ruler  of  our  lives.  These  answers  were  not 
wrong  in  principle.  But  merely  to  say  that  it  is  providen- 
tial is  not  sufficient  under  the  present  knowledge.  In  the 
light  of  science  we  have  come  to  see  that  the  divine  will  is 
not  capricious  nor  wholly  incalculable  in  its  action;  and 
with  every  advance  of  science  the  rationale  of  that  will 
becomes  clearer  to  us.  This  is  a  divinely  controlled  uni- 
verse; but  this  does  not  mean  that  it  is  not  a  universe  of 
order.  "All's  love,  yet  all's  law."  Sickness  results  from 
a  violation  of  the  laws  of  life  somewhere  and  by  somebody. 
And  to  say  that  God  intends  and  desires  men  to  be  sick  is 
tantamount  to  saying  that  he  intends  and  desires  them  to 
violate  the  laws  of  life  which  are  of  his  own  ordination. 
That  is  absurd.  God  simply  intends  that  men  shall  be  sick 
as  a  consequence  of  such  violation ;  but  this,  we  may  surely 
believe,  is  because  he  desires  that  they  shall  live  according 


THE  MINISTER  AS  A  HEALTH  PROPAGANDIST  379 

to  those  laws.  The  conservation  and  fulfillment  of  life  is 
his  fundamental  and  final  aim;  and  disease  itself  is  but  a 
disciplinary  method  of  enforcing  the  laws  that  make  for 
life.  Disease  is  merely  the  natural  way  of  insisting  on  the 
duty  of  health. 

In  the  third  place,  the  minister  should,  as  other  intelli- 
gent men,  realize  that,  under  the  conditions  of  modern  life 
especially,  disease  is  not  by  any  means  a  matter  of  indi- 
vidual violation  of  the  laws  of  health  alone,  but  a  social 
concern.  It  is  therefore  not  a  matter  of  individual  ethics 
alone,  but  of  social  righteousness.  We  are  now  interde- 
pendent in  a  degree  that  men  never  were  before.  A  man 
with  a  contagious  or  infectious  disease  is  a  menace  to  pub- 
lic welfare;  dark  and  dingy  tenements,  impure  food,  quack 
medicines,  filthy  laundering,  unsanitary  factories,  etc.,  are 
methods  of  money-making  whereby  one  imperils  the  health 
of  others;  while  dirty  streets  and  alleys,  germ-laden  water 
supplies,  etc.,  are  ways  by  which  the  community  itself 
menaces  the  health  of  all  its  members.  Men  do  not  live 
unto  themselves  nor  die  unto  themselves;  and  we  may  add 
that  they  are  not  even  sick  unto  themselves.  Men  are  so 
closely  bound  together  to-day  that  the  question  of  health 
is  not  only  a  matter  for  an  individual,  but  for  the  com- 
munity, and  it  cannot  therefore  lie  outside  of  the  proper 
concern  of  the  minister  of  the  Gospel.  As  a  worker  in  the 
enterprise  of  the  kingdom,  is  he  working,  as  his  Master 
was,  that  men  may  "have  life,  and  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly?" Then  he  must  be  interested  in  promoting  health. 
Is  he  seeking  to  induce  men  to  obey  divine  law?  Then  he 
must  be  concerned  as  to  their  obedience  to  the  physical 
laws  of  health;  for  the  laws  of  the  human  organism,  when 
known,  impose  a  moral  obligation  to  obedience.  Is  he  seek- 
ing to  win  men  to  righteous  action  toward  one  another? 
Then  he  must  sternly  rebuke  those  unrighteous  acts  by 
which  men  imperil  one  another's  health.  Is  he  striving  for 
the  establishment  of  a  righteous  social  order?  Then  he 
must  be  an  advocate  of  community  conditions  that  are  not 
a  menace  to,  but  promotive  of,  the  health  of  the  people. 


380  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Moreover,  the  minister's  work  gives  him  an  exceptional 
opportunity  to  be  an  effective  health  propagandist.  How 
can  he  preach  a  full  gospel  without  including  health  as  one 
of  the  ideals  which  he  is  privileged  and  obligated  to  present 
to  the  people  from  the  pulpit?  To  avoid  it,  he  must  steer 
clear  of  the  most  vital  areas  of  the  Scriptures,  both  in  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  The  subject  lies  right  in  his 
path  as  a  preacher.  Any  real  preaching  must  lead  him 
straight  to  the  heart  of  the  health  fight. 

I  am  as  much  opposed  as  anybody  can  be  to  the  preach- 
er's forsaking  the  gospel  to  take  up  civic  or  scientific  topics 
in  the  pulpit.  To  preach  the  gospel  is  his  business,  and 
there  is  none  greater.  But  in  sticking  to  the  gospel,  let  him 
stick  to  the  whole  gospel.  If  I  thought  that  in  speaking 
on  the  subject  of  conserving  health  he  had  to  side-step  the 
gospel,  I  should  say,  let  him  be  silent  on  the  subject  in  the 
pulpit.  But  the  range  of  his  preaching  should  be  as  broad 
as  the  Scriptures,  and  the  matter  of  health  certainly  lies 
within  that  range.  What  is  asked  of  him  is  not  to  quit 
preaching  the  gospel,  but  to  preach  it  in  a  more  practical 
way.  If,  as  a  professor  of  preaching,  I  may  emphasize 
what  seems  to  me  a  serious  fault  of  much  preaching,  it  is 
its  deficiency  in  practical  application.  It  does  not  hitch  the 
truth  closely  enough  to  the  problems  of  everyday  living. 
We  leave  it  too  much  to  the  hearers  to  find  out  just  what 
bearing  the  truth,  proclaimed  abstractly,  has  upon  the 
actual  relations  and  activities  of  the  people.  And  the 
hearer  often  fails  to  discover  the  connection.  We  shoot  our 
seventeen-inch  guns  without  taking  sufficient  care  in  aim- 
ing them  to  hit  the  spot  where  the  enemy  actually  is.  There 
is  a  tremendous  explosion  and  fragments  of  shell  and  tons 
of  earth  are  hurled  high  into  the  air,  but  the  enemy  goes 
on  unhurt  about  his  business — and  to-day  that  business  is 
too  often  creating  or  perpetuating  conditions  which  menace 
the  health  of  innocent  and  helpless  people. 

It  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  the  preacher  in  perform- 
ing his  duty  in  this  matter  to  interrupt  the  course  of  his 
preaching  and  take  upon  some  special  day  the  subject  of 


THE  MINISTER  AS  A  HEALTH  PROPAGANDIST  381 

disease  and  health,  as  something  unrelated  to  his  regular 
work.  It  is  perhaps  better  for  him  to  give  attention  to 
this  and  kindred  matters  in  the  regular  course  of  his  work. 
Every  now  and  then  he  will  be  discussing  aspects  of  gospel 
truth  which  not  only  can  be  given  this  application,  but 
which  cannot  be  preached  in  its  real  meaning  and  best 
effect  without  it.  The  fact  that  such  matters  are  touched 
upon  in  the  regular  course  of  preaching  will  tend  to  estab- 
lish in  the  minds  of  the  people  a  closer  connection  between 
civic  duty  and  religious  truth  and  give  a  more  immediate 
religious  sanction  to  social  obligation  than  occasional  spe- 
cial treatment  would.  This  method  of  presentation  will 
inform  the  people  that  such  duties  are  integral  parts  of  the 
program  of  the  kingdom. 

Preachers  speak  to  more  people  and  speak  to  them  more 
often  and  more  regularly  than  any  other  class  of  men. 
They  constitute  our  largest  body  of  trained  experts  in  pub- 
lic speaking.  When  as  a  class  they  become  thoroughly 
interested  in  the  promotion  of  any  cause,  they  are  a  power 
not  lightly  to  be  considered.  If  we  could  bring  it  about 
that  preachers  generally  would  devote  themselves  to  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  health,  we  should  harness  to 
this  movement  an  almost  irresistible  power.  And  some 
day  we  shall  have  a  pulpit  that  will  more  clearly  perceive 
its  opportunity,  its  privilege,  and  its  duty  to  proclaim  pri- 
vate and  public  conservation  of  health  as  a  part  of  the  pro- 
gram of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

But  the  minister's  opportunity  and  effectiveness  lie  not 
alone  in  the  pulpit.  He  is  a  regular  visitor  among  the  peo- 
ple and  has  the  entree  to  more  homes  and  hearts  than  any 
other  man  except,  perhaps,  the  physician.  And  he  has  in 
his  pastoral  function  the  privilege  of  making  private  sug- 
gestions to  his  people  about  almost  all  subjects  in  which 
they  should  be  interested.  Clearly  he  may  be  extremely 
useful  in  the  development  of  interest  in  the  matter  of  health 
or  any  other  good  cause.  To  my  certain  knowledge,  the 
pastor  often  needs  some  subject  of  conversation  that  is  of 
practical  value,  and  about  which  he  can  keep  up  a  some- 


382  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

what  one-sided  conversation,  when  he  is  visiting  in  the 
homes  of  the  people,  especially  the  homes  of  the  poor  and 
uneducated,  lest  his  visit  become  a  dreary  bore  to  himself 
as  well  as  to  those  whom  he  is  visiting.  It  would  seem  to 
be  in  strict  line  with  his  pastoral  function  to  talk  about 
health,  which  is  so  closely  related  to  the  deeper  spiritual 
problems  of  life  and,  therefore,  to  his  official  ministrations. 
If  he  is  only  equipped  with  an  adequate  understanding  of 
the  subject,  he  may  make  conversation  on  this  subject  very 
helpful  in  many  ways.  Might  not  much  pastoral  visitation 
be  redeemed  from  a  monotonous  inanity  by  being  used  in 
some  such  ways  as  I  am  suggesting? 

There  are  the  strongest  reasons  why  the  pastor,  in  the 
pulpit,  in  his  visits,  and  as  a  citizen,  should  be  an  evan- 
gelist of  health,  enlightening  the  minds  and  quickening  the 
consciences  of  the  people  with  respect  to  this  fundamental 
duty.  While  he  is  winning  and  caring  for  their  souls,  he 
must  as  a  part  of  this  noble  task  help  to  banish  disease  to 
avert  sorrow  and  untimely  death,  to  weaken  the  appeal  of 
vice,  to  increase  efficiency  both  economic  and  spiritual,  and 
so  to  crown  life  with  innocent  joy  and  the  efficiency  of 
health  and  happiness. 


rHE  POINT  OF  EXPLOSION  BETWEEN  THE  SPIRIT- 
UAL AND  THE  ECONOMIC 

FRANK   MONROE  CROUCH,   EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY  JOINT  COM- 
MISSION ON  SOCIAL  SERVICE  OF  THE  PROTESTANT 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

It  has  been  well  said  that  it  requires  the  conjunction  of 
an  ethical  or  spiritual  principle  with  a  hard  fact  to  pro- 
duce any  revolution  in  thought  or  in  conduct,  whether  indi- 
vidual or  social. 

Two  spiritual  principles  are  regnant.  Possibly  at  bot- 
tom they  are  one.  They  are  righteousness  and  justice.  The 
fact  is  the  fact  of  economic  injustice,  or  unrighteousness. 

To  understand  the  conflict  which  at  present  obtains 
between  the  spiritual  principle  of  righteousness,  including 


THE  POINT  OF  EXPLOSION  383 

justice,  and  the  fact  of  economic  injustice,  we  must  turn  to 
the  pages  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  giving  the 
sources  of  the  discussion.  The  fundamental  conception  of 
Hebrew  prophecy,  which  now  after  many  years  has  been 
rightly  apprehended  as  forming  the  core  of  the  "divine 
library"  which  we  call  the  Old  Testament,  is,  in  short,, 
nothing  less  than  the  conjunction  of  righteousness  and 
justice,  which  finds  its  "acid  test"  in  Old  Testament  his- 
tory in  the  face  of  social  and  economic  inequity,  which  in 
the  eye  of  the  prophet  was  synoymous  with  iniquity.  The 
"explosion"  occurred  in  utterances  of  the  prophets  them- 
selves, aside  from  actual  revolution — social  or  political  up- 
heaval— which  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  not  infrequently  the 
result  of  prophetic  denunciation  of  injustice.  The  revolt 
against  the  house  of  Solomon,  which  split  the  once  united 
kingdom,  and  the  later  dynastic  revolution  which  overthrew 
the  house  of  Ahab  in  favor  of  the  house  of  Jehu,  were 
both  instances  of  the  social  explosion.  If  the  principle 
involved  in  these  two  instances  and  typified  in  the  person 
of  Jeroboam,  the  first  king  of  Northern  Israel,  is  seen 
largely  mixed  with  sordid  motives,  this  is  but  another  indi- 
cation of  how  difficult  it  is  to  draw  a  line  of  demarcation 
between  the  spiritual  and  the  economic.  The  fact  that 
these  two  phases  of  human  life  or  action  are  so  closely  asso- 
ciated in  the  thought  of  the  Old  Testament  constitutes  a 
valid  answer  to  those  critics  of  the  modem  social  effort  of 
organized  Christianity  who  stoutly  maintain  that  the 
Church  is  not  rightly  "concerned  with  any  of  these  things." 
The  insistence  in  the  New  Testament  upon  this  prophetic 
conjunction  of  righteousness  and  justice  is  perhaps  less 
obvious  to  the  devout  mind ;  yet  a  glance  at  the  underlying 
base  and  the  informing  genius  of  the  gospel  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  Christianity  is  indeed  interested  in  the  entire  life 
of  man,  both  in  this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come.  The 
"gospel  of  the  kingdom"  is,  in  short,  a  gospel  of  righteous- 
ness and  justice.  "Righteousness"  is  the  keyword  of  the 
"kingdom,"  and  as  translated  in  our  English  version  really 
includes   "justice"   and   cannot   be   properly   apprehended. 


384  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

unless  these  two  aspects  of  the  same  eternal  truth  are  held 
together. 

So  of  the  heroes  of  the  faith  during  the  intervening 
twenty  Christian  centuries :  they  have  largely  been  men  or 
women  concerned  with  the  reconciliation  of  righteousness 
and  justice.  It  needs  but  the  mention  of  a  Francis  of 
Assisi,  champion  of  "God's  poor;"  a  Savonarola,  with  his 
vision  of  a  Florence  delivered  from  the  despot;  of  a  St. 
Catherine  of  Siena,  with  her  dream  of  an  Italy  redeemed 
from  oppression  and  disunity;  of  a  Luther — in  his  earlier 
days  at  least — espousing  the  cause  of  the  peasants;  of 
Wyclif  and  his  Lollards,  denouncing  both  political  and 
ecclesiastical  tyranny ;  of  a  Wesley  with  his  belief  in  Chris- 
tian democracy;  of  a  Maurice  and  a  Kingsley,  intent  on 
realizing  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth — to  show  how 
through  the  ages  of  the  Church  her  great  leaders  have 
insisted  not  only  on  man's  duty  to  God,  but  on  his  duty  to 
his  neighbor.  To  hold  these  two  together  is  essential: 
insistence  on  the  first  aloi\e  results  in  a  formal  righteous- 
ness; emphasis  on  the  second  merely  ends  in  an  empty 
humanitarianism. 

But  while  the  prophetic  leaders  of  the  Church  have  "fol- 
lowed the  gleam"  of  a  Christianized  social  order,  the  rank 
and  file  of  her  membership,  not  to  mention  her  ecclesiasti- 
cal representatives,  have  been  prone  to  divorce  what  God 
has  joined  together.  Interest  in  the  institution — the 
Church — as  an  end  in  itself,  and  in  so-called  personal  reli- 
gion, has  closed  too  many  eyes  to  the  truth.  The  history 
of  recent  centuries,  since  the  great  cleavage  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  even  earlier,  in  the  schismatic  tendencies  within 
the  Church  of  Rome,  has  been  a  process  of  progressive  dif- 
ferentiation along  the  lines,  and  for  the  purpose,  of  indi- 
vidual salvation.  The  original  unity  of  Christendom  has 
been  rent  into  many  fragments,  and  each  group  has  believed 
that  thus,  and  thus  only,  should  they  be  saved.  Hair-split- 
ting distinctions  in  doctrine  and  worship  have  resulted,  in 
only  too  many  instances,  in  the  "seven  Churches  of  Lonely- 
ville,"  some  of  which  sing  the  psalms  of  David,  while  others 
sing  David's  psalms. 


THE  POINT  OF  EXPLOSION  385 

Against  this  century-long  tendency  has  recently,  thank 
God,  arisen  another  and  counter  tendency  along  the  lines 
and  for  the  purposes  of  social  salvation.  The  social  prob- 
lem and  program  are  being  accepted  by  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  churches  throughout  this  country  as  throughout  the 
world.  Justice  and  righteousness  are  once  more  meeting 
together.  Stress  is  laid  no  longer  upon  rightness  of  serv- 
ices, but  upon  rightness  of  service.  The  split,  if  split  comes, 
will  be  between  those  who  believe  that  righteousness  must 
square  with  justice,  one's  duty  to  God  with  one's  duty  to 
his  neighbor,  and  those  who  do  not  so  believe,  however  they 
may  disguise  their  lack  of  saving  social  faith  in  their  hearts 
or  in  their  words.  This  is  the  new  "great  divide."  Happily 
there  are  abundant  signs  that  brethren  of  many  names  are 
not  merely  substituting  one  basis  of  separation  for  another, 
but  are  coming  together  on  a  common  platform,  and  in  a 
common  effort  of  human  service.  This  they  are  doing 
largely  through  official  affiliations  of  the  social  agencies  of 
different  communions  in  a  cooperative  program,  and 
through  the  recognition  by  these  respective  agencies  in  their 
intra-communion  effort  that  social  service  is  not  the  work 
of  one  Church  alone,  but  of  all,  that  it  must  be  truly  inter- 
denominational to  be  really  effective. 

Yet  the  task  is  not  simple.  The  churches  are  unhappily 
not  yet  undivided  in  their  allegiance.  Conscientious  devo- 
tion to  the  older  ideals  still  keeps  many  back ;  personal  inter- 
est is  a  still  more  potent  factor  in  preventing  the  full  con- 
junction of  justice  and  righteousness.  Some  special  inter- 
ests are  still  using  the  Church  as  a  cloak  for  their  selfish 
purposes — if  they  are  not  deliberately  controlling  it  through 
financial  support  and  official  influence.  In  other  words, 
not  only  does  ecclesiastical  and  theological  prejudice  throw 
a  bar  in  the  way  of  full  social  cooperation  between  com- 
munions, but  "business"  considerations  cause  a  powerful 
section  of  every  Church  to  oppose  any  thoroughgoing  funda- 
mental social  reform  and  reconstruction.  Whoever  in  the 
name  of  the  churches  ventures  to  challenge  the  "system" 
is  denounced  or  ignored  by  that  section  of  the  Church  mem- 

25 


386  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

bership  which  draws  profit  therefrom.  This  is  not  to  deny 
that  many  beneficiaries  of  the  present  economic  and  indus- 
trial regime  not  only  no  longer  rest  easy  under  the  burden 
of  an  apparent  social  iniquity,  but  even,  in  many  instances, 
are  casting  in  their  lot,  like  Moses,  with  those  who  are 
oppressed  by  Pharaoh  and  his  taskmasters. 

The  churches,  then,  are  still  on  trial  before  the  world. 
They  cannot  truly  serve  their  Lord  unless  at  the  same  time 
they  at  least  endeavor  to  serve  their  fellow  men.  If  "inter- 
ested" members  of  our  churches  stand  in  the  way,  they 
must  be  shown  the  full  significance  of  the  gospel  for  social 
salvation  and  the  peril  of  him  who  opposes  its  working. 
The  "saving  remnant"  of  those  who  are  intent  on  yoking 
righteousness  with  justice  may  some  day  be  in  the  majority: 
it  is  for  them  meanwhile  to  make  straight  the  highway  for 
their  God. 

But  granted  that  the  churches  are  united,  where  then  is 
the  point  of  explosion  ?  It  is  still  at  the  same  focus,  though 
the  alignment  of  forces  be  shifted.  Against  a  church  wholly 
determined  to  have  and  to  hold  justice  and  righteousness 
together  would  stand  a  hostile  world.  What,  in  the  ulti- 
mate analysis,  means  the  tragic  phenomenon  of  war  save 
the  fact  or  the  desire  of  injustice  on  one  side  or  the  other 
— perhaps  on  both?  Racial  antagonisms,  dynastic  ambi- 
tions, religious  rivalries,  political  antipathies  have  played 
their  part  in  war  past  and  present.  Yet  beneath  the  armed 
conflicts  of  yesterday  and  to-day  is  seen  the  red  hand  of 
greed.  It  has  been  well  said  that  modern  war  is  a  function 
of  capitalism.  A  market,  markets,  and  more  markets  are 
the  end  and  aim  of  war  as  we  know  it  to-day.  Conflicting 
commercial  ambitions  have  plunged  a  world  in  chaos. 
Eliminate  greed,  individual,  collective,  national,  and  you 
eliminate  the  cause  of  war.  If  justice  obtained  on  earth, 
there  would  be  no  strife. 

Yet  the  horrors  of  war,  though  more  sensational  and 
more  poignant,  are  not  more  menacing  than  the  horrors 
of  peace.  Death  by  shrapnel  or  high  explosive  or  cold  steel 
is  no  more  death,  and  scarcely  more  hideous,  than  death  as 
the  result  of  hazardous  and  insanitary  working  conditions, 


THE  POINT  OF  EXPLOSION  387 

poisonous  ingredients,  unwholesome  living  conditions,  in- 
adequate wages,  and  excessive  hours  of  toil,  which  slowly, 
perhaps,  but  surely  reduce  the  mental  and  physical  resist- 
ance of  the  worker  and  his  loved  ones  and  thereby  make 
them  susceptible  to  ills  that  maim  and  kill.  Immediate 
causes  of  the  horrors  of  peace  need  not  be  multiplied ;  spe- 
cific instances  need  not  be  given.  But  again  the  under- 
lying cause  of  these  horrors  is  greed — the  denial  of  justice, 
the  exploitation  of  man  by  his  neighbor. 

Capitalism  has  but  applied  the  logic  of  industrial  and 
economic  exploitation.  Its  very  perfection  of  the  means  of 
production  intensifies  a  situation  as  old  as  history.  The 
speeding  up  of  the  entire  process  of  manufacture  in  the 
desire  for  inordinate  gains  has  but  revealed  what  was 
always  present  in  lesser  degree — the  denial  or  ignoring  of 
the  humanity  of  the  worker,  and  the  treating  of  him  as  a 
mere  tool  of  industry.  So  long  as  one  man  is  compelled  to 
sell  his  labor  to  another,  however  protected  he  may  be  by 
a  principle  of  collective  bargaining  applied  and  enforced  by 
labor  organization,  just  so  long  is  justice  in  jeopardy,  and 
righteousness,  in  the  strict  and  full  sense,  impossible. 

It  is  as  the  churches  of  America  and  the  world  come  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  work  of  the  world  rests  upon  a 
basis  of  injustice  that  the  point  of  explosion  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  economic  is  approached.  The  Church  can- 
not endure  half-Christian  and  half-pagan.  It  cannot 
espouse  righteousness  unless  it  espouses  justice.  What- 
ever and  whoever  stands  in  the  way  of  justice  stands  in  the 
way  of  righteousness.  If  the  Church  or  its  members  draw 
profit  from  social  inequity,  they  are  drawing  profit  from 
iniquity.  God  has  made  all  men  equal  in  his  sight;  if  man 
has  made  them  unequal  in  his  sight,  upon  his  head  is  the 
blame. 

How,  then,  shall  we  be  saved?  How  shall  the  Church 
redeem  the  world,  and  incidentally  herself?  How  shall  the 
explosion  be  averted?  Unless  the  Church  be  content  to 
withdraw  from  the  arena,  unless  she  relinquish  the  strug- 
gle and  give  herself  wholly  to  an  otherworldliness  which 


388  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

has  in  other  ages  been  discredited,  she  cannot  evade  the 
issue.  Justice  must  be  secured,  else  the  kingdom  of  God 
cannot  come.  Apocalypticism  can  be  no  refuge  for  the 
church  militant. 

The  Church,  for  one  thing,  if  not  first,  must  reform 
herself.  If  she  has  fondly  counted  on  a  righteousness  in 
which  justice  is  not  concerned,  she  must  shift  her  founda- 
tion. Her  leaders  and  her  members  alike  must  be  purged 
of  the  greed  which  lies  at  the  base  of  injustice.  Ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline — the  collective  pressure  upon  recalcitrants — 
may  be  needed;  drastic  measures  may  be  indicated.  In  any 
event  she  must  make  sure  that  she  stands  for  justice,  wholly 
and  without  reservation. 

Then  there  is  the  world.  The  Church  can  no  longer 
countenance  a  social  order  based  on  exploitation.  She  must 
embark  on  one  more  crusade.  Economic  slavery  must  be 
abolished.  It  may  mean  loss  to  herself,  but  she  must  not 
fear.  Her  methods  are  already  indicated  by  experience, 
study,  and  thought.  She  must  show,  in  the  first  place,  her 
interest  in  the  economically  submerged — not  merely  the 
"down  and  out,"  not  the  unemployable  and  the  unemployed 
alone,  but  those  who  are  working  for  scant  wages,  during 
long  hours,  under  deleterious  conditions  also.  If  she  can 
help  these  by  legislation,  let  her  further,  if  not  initiate, 
legislation;  if  through  public  opinion,  let  her  agitate;  if  by 
direct  service,  individually  and  collectively,  let  her  serve, 
whether  within  her  own  walls  or  through  the  channels  of 
the  community  life.  She  may,  if  need  be,  at  least  tem- 
porarily, become  a  social  engineer,  formulating  social  poli- 
cies, enunciating  social  methods,  and  putting  them  in  opera- 
tion either  independently  or  cooperatively. 

But  one  thing  the  Church  must  ever  do :  she  must  be  a 
social  prophet.  The  proclamation  of  the  good  tidings  of 
justice  and  righteousness  in  interchangeable  terms  is  a  duty 
and  an  opportunity  alike  to  her  inexorable.  To  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor,  to  announce  the  acceptable  day  of  the 
Lord,  is  no  less  needful  than  to  restore  the  lame,  the  deaf, 
and  the  blind.  Failing  this,  she  has  no  part  with  her  Mas- 
ter; so  doing,  she  shall  live  with  them  and  him. 


PREACHER  AND  PHYSICIAN  YOKEFELLOWS  389 


THE   PREACHER  AND   PHYSICIAN  YOKEFELLOWS 
IN  THE  HEALTH  CAMPAIGN 

PROFESSOR  J.  L.  KESLER,  DEAN  OF  BAYLOR  UNIVERSITY 

Good  health  is  a  fundamental  human  interest,  and  one  of 
the  final  tests  of  human  progress.  The  real  improvement 
of  mankind  is  measured  in  terms  of  better  health,  clearer 
heads,  and  purer  hearts.  There  is  no  progress  without 
these.  The  dazzling  array  of  modern  discovery  and  achieve- 
ment expresses  progress  only  in  so  far  as  contribution  is 
made  to  some  one  of  these  forms  of  human  advancement. 
And  the  great  truth  is,  that  what  contributes  to  one  helps 
the  others,  so  vitally  one  and  complete  are  life's  final  inter- 
ests. The  whole  big  expression  of  life  is  wholesomeness. 
Well-being  is  being  well  through  and  through,  life  full- 
orbed  and  overflowing. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  add  a  single  new  phrase  of  tech- 
nical knowledge,  but  to  enter  a  plea  for  a  general  practice 
of  what  we  already  know.  In  other  days  the  mystic  urged 
the  "practice  of  the  presence  of  God."  We  appeal  in  the 
enlightened  present  for  the  practice  of  good  health  also. 
We  know  a  great  deal  now,  but  all  of  us  do  not  know  it,  and 
few  of  us  practice  what  we  already  know. 

The  preacher  and  the  doctor  are  easily  the  leading  fel- 
low laborers  where  this  knowledge  is  most  needed.  Time 
was  when  we  looked  upon  these  two  as  the  repositories 
of  rare  knowledge  of  the  secrets  of  life  here  and  hereafter; 
and  on  occasion  they  dealt  it  out  to  their  wonderstruck 
fellow  mortals.  The  doctor  came  to  see  you,  felt  your  pulse, 
looked  at  your  tongue,  asked  you  what  was  the  matter — and 
you  told  him.  He  prescribed  to  the  minute  when  pill  or 
powder  should  be  taken,  and  went  out  wrapped  in  his  cloak 
of  mystery,  leaving  you  amazed  at  his  deep  knowledge.  No 
effort  was  made  to  plant  your  feet  on  the  road  to  health 
where  men  may  walk  alone.  Or,  he  may  have  left  the  white 
morphia  tablet,  soothed  nature's  cry  of  warning,  and  made 
you  a  hopeless  "patient  for  life."    Fortunately  not  many  of 


390  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

these  remain  among  us,  though  a  few  may  still  be  at  large 
and  unhung. 

Once  the  priest  handed  out  the  mysteries  sparingly  from 
his  cloister.  Now  he  has  no  sacerdotal  monopoly  of  the 
truth  by  which  souls  are  made  whole.  In  both  cases  the 
vital  truths  of  all  life  are  to  be  brought  out  into  the  open, 
the  wide-open  air  and  sunlight.  As  the  priest  of  the  cloister 
has  given  place  to  the  man  with  a  vision  and  a  message, 
who  stands  in  the  market  place  and  by  the  open  road,  so 
the  physician  with  the  art  of  healing  and  preventive  knowl- 
edge is  emerging  from  the  darkness  of  dog-Latin  and  help- 
ing men  to  live. 

The  common  sense  of  justice  in  mankind  has  about  de- 
cided that  there  should  be  no  private  ownership  of  vital 
knowledge,  no  patent  remedies,  no  medical  discoveries  held 
behind  closed  doors.  The  physician-scientist  who  would 
withhold  from  the  public  the  discovery  of  a  specific  for  any 
of  the  great  plagues  of  the  human  race  would  be  held  little 
less  than  a  criminal  by  his  professional  fellows.  There  is 
now  no  doubt  about  the  safety  of  knowledge  in  the  hands 
of  the  laity.  The  great  truths  are,  after  all,  the  simplest. 
The  profoundest  conclusions  of  scientific  investigation  as 
to  health  can  be  applied  to  many  of  the  great  scourges  and 
at  the  most  vital  points  without  the  aid  of  an  expert.  In 
these  cases  every  man  can  at  least  administer  the  laws  of 
health  for  himself.  This  will  be  the  "safe  thing  to  do  till 
the  doctor  comes,"  and  will  defer  his  coming.  For  an 
example,  take  malaria.  The  name  covers  a  multitude  of 
bodily  sins,  and  also  reveals  the  ignorance  by  which  the 
practice  of  medicine  was  so  long  bound.  The  common^ 
ditcher  can  understand  draining  away  the  stagnant  water 
in  the  marsh  by  his  cabin.  And  the  wayfaring  man,  though 
a  fool,  in  the  city  may  comprehend  the  meaning  of  over- 
turned tubs  and  tin  cans  in  the  community  drive  against 
the  mosquito.  The  man  by  the  stagnant  pool  is  doing  noth- 
ing, because  he  has  not  been  caught  up  by  a  wide  and  per- 
sistent agitation  of  the  matter.  He  may  not  be  able  to 
handle  a  microscope  as  well  as  a  shovel,  but  the  bogie  pic- 


PREACHER  AND  PHYSICIAN  YOKEFELLOWS  391 

ture  of  little  animals  with  poisoned  teeth  and  claws  may 
seize  his  imagination,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
witch  doctor  and  quack  nostrums  have  held  him  bound 
heretofore. 

Through  weary  years  scientists  have  been  seeking  the 
cause  and  prevention  of  typhoid  fever.  It  could  have  come 
by  no  other  route.  But  when  the  truth  emerged  from  the 
clouds  of  mystery,  the  final  dictum  of  the  bacteriologist  is 
simply  this:  Clean  out  all  stalls  and  stables  once  a  week, 
cart  the  refuse  to  the  open  field  and  spread  it  in  the  sun- 
light, and  you  will  practically  drop  from  the  list  of  diseases 
typhoid  fever  and  probably  infantile  paralysis. 

There  is  tuberculosis,  the  silent  sapper  of  human  life, 
which  has  gone  on  for  centuries  unchecked.  Even  the 
white  monster  is  at  last  being  held  at  bay  by  a  common- 
sense  treatment,  so  simple  that  it  is  almost  outside  the  ordi- 
nary practice  of  medicine,  save  for  the  indispensable  need 
of  an  early  and  intelligent  diagnosis. 

And  mysterious  pellagra,  with  all  its  grewsome  sugges- 
tions, seems  to  be  yielding  to  a  simple  common-sense  diet 
well  known  to  the  old  black  mammy  cook  in  the  South  fifty 
years  ago.  The  experiments  conducted  by  the  United  States 
Public  Health  Service  in  Mississippi  and  other  Southern 
States,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Goldberger,  demonstrate 
pretty  clearly  that  pellagra  is  a  ''nutritional  disease,"  and 
that  the  balanced  ration  is  both  cure  and  prevention.  A 
safe  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  "that  the  farm  that 
has  a  good  cow,  a  pea  patch,  and  a  hencoop  will  not  have 
pellagra  on  it."  The  JouvTial  of  the  Amencan  Medical 
Association  declares  that  7,500  Americans  will  die  of  this 
disease  in  the  current  year — and  they  will  die  more  from 
lack  of  knowledge  than  from  poverty. 

Oral  hygiene  is  a  rather  recent  arrival  as  a  health  study 
for  the  multitudes.  It  is  declared  by  those  who  know  that 
the  unclean  mouth,  with  the  resultant  diseased  gums  and 
teeth,  is  the  prolific  cause  of  serious  stomach,  heart,  and 
kidney  troubles,  rheumatism,  and  a  contributing  cause  of 
pneumonia,  which  heads  the  list  in  the  annual  death  rate. 


392  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Consider  the  death  rate  of  infants — one  in  five  up  to 
one  year  of  age.  If  this  slaughter  of  the  innocents  were 
of  young  domestic  animals  and  prevention  v^^ere  as  simple, 
it  would  soon  be  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  and  the 
death  roll  would  drop. 

While  hookworm  cannot  be  handled  without  medical 
treatment,  yet  it  also,  with  a  few  lessons  on  cause  and  cure, 
would  at  an  early  day  be  placed  on  the  retired  list  of  worn- 
out  pests. 

As  much  can  be  said  of  other  forms  of  human  ill.  We 
who  are  here  are  perhaps  informed,  but  the  people  over  the 
wide  rural  stretches  do  not  know.  Many  of  them  do  not 
read  the  papers;  and  if  they  did  there  is  still  lacking  the 
personal  touch.  Why  should  not  the  physicians  and  pas- 
tors of  communities  and  counties  get  together,  and  indorse 
and  lead  campaigns  of  enlightenment  like  this?  Shall  the 
doctor  hesitate  because  typhoid  fever  furnishes  his  summer 
harvest?  Or  the  preacher  hold  off  because  he  cannot  come 
down  from  his  high  place  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  ?  Such 
little  fellows  will  never  do  it.  Only  big  men  can  be  used 
in  a  large  way  anywhere.  Many  of  our  doctors  are  lead- 
ing the  way  to  put  themselves  out  of  a  job  apparently.  But 
a  discerning  public  will  see  to  it  that  the  laborer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire  and  that  the  hire  is  worthy  of  the  laborer. 

The  preacher  and  doctor  are  the  most  influential  and 
most  beloved  men  in  the  community,  in  the  rural  districts 
especially.  They  hold  the  key  to  the  situation.  During  his 
visits  the  pastor  can  greatly  help,  not  by  suggesting  to  the 
dear  sister  a  better  remedy  than  the  doctor  is  using  (Such 
a  preacher  ought  to  be  unfrocked  without  a  trial)  ;  but 
around  the  fireside  he  can  be  an  evangel  of  good  health 
conditions  in  the  homes  of  the  people  and  in  the  com- 
munity. He  can  do  much  incidentally  by  making  announce- 
ments of  public  health  meetings  and  by  urging  his  people 
to  attend  them.  If  he  does  not  preach  directly  on  a  public 
health  theme,  he  can  give  it  at  least  in  broken  doses.  I 
once  knew  a  pastor  who  cleaned  up  the  back  lots  in  the 
neighborhood  by  the  skillful  use  of  an  illustration. 


PREACHER  AND  PHYSICIAN  YOKEFELLOWS  393 

Not  long  since  a  beloved  pastor  while  urging  the  need 
of  the  preaching  of  the  pure  gospel  facetiously  remarked 
that  this  gospel  did  not  consist  in  health  campaigns,  "swat- 
ting the  fly,"  and  so  forth.  One  of  these  Sunday  mornings 
he  will  call  his  people  to  prayer  in  behalf  of  a  young  mem- 
ber at  the  point  of  death  from  typhoid  fever,  and  from  the 
sacred  desk  will  call  for  help  for  the  afflicted  family.  A 
few  days  later  the  same  preacher  will  conduct  the  funeral 
of  that  young  person,  and  in  pure  gospel  parlance  will  dis- 
course on  the  mysterious  ways  of  Providence  and  lament 
the  loss  of  this  young  life  in  the  service  of  the  kingdom. 
But  in  the  big  pure  gospel  he  preaches  there  is  no  place 
for  helping  to  prevent  the  untimely  death!  O  the  pure 
gospel,  the  pure  gospel,  in  thy  name  how  many  things — 
have  been  left  out! 

A  pastor  has  buried  a  large  family,  one  by  one,  of  the 
brightest  and  best  of  his  flock,  all  victims  of  tuberculosis. 
After  turning  away  from  the  contemplation  of  this  loss, 
why  could  he  not  with  heavenly  propriety  preach  a  whole 
sermon,  from  a  text  that  fell  from  the  Master's  own  lips, 
followed  by  an  appeal  for  a  county  or  state-wide  effort  to 
check  the  ravages  of  this  destroyer  of  useful  human  life? 
But  why  driven  to  the  delivery  of  a  message  due  years  ago? 

In  a  recent  paper  before  the  Medical  Society  of  Chicago, 
Dr.  Albert  H.  Burr,  of  that  city,  declared  that  "women 
live  longer  than  men,  and  for  the  reason  that  men,  as  a 
rule,  are  tobacco  users,  whereas  women  are  not."  Many 
men  are  "doomed  to  a  drug  slavery  that  spells  premature 
senility  and  race  degeneracy."  Can  we  longer  treat  this 
matter  as  a  joke,  and  leave  it  in  the  hands  of  cranks  and 
extremists?  Is  there  not,  after  all,  in  it  a  question  of 
health  ahd  physical  morality?  Surely  the  wise  pastor  can 
help  the  boys  and  young  men  to  a  safe  course  through  the 
labyrinth  of  popular  and  habit-forming  indulgences. 

The  "social  evil"  is  no  longer  a  matter  for  the  police- 
man and  recorder's  court.  It  comes  into  the  field  of  the  doc- 
tor and  of  every  benevolent  friend  of  mankind.  It  mothers 
the  disease  whose  name  is  legion,  and  leaves  in  its  wake 


394  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

an  awful  brood  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  distresses 
and  sorrows.  "Social  hygiene"  comprehends  well  a  task 
which  challenges  every  resource  of  medicine  and  religion. 

It  would  be  a  splendid  thing  to  have  a  neighborhood 
doctor  or  specialist  to  speak  to  his  people  on  special  occa- 
sions. But  be  sure  he  is  able  to  speak  on  the  simple  things 
— simple  living,  fresh  air,  sunlight  and  flowers,  the  tonic 
effect  of  God's  great  out  of  doors. 

Why  cannot  the  pastor  see  the  need  of  a  mothers'  meet- 
ing as  of  vital  importance  along  with  the  missionary  or 
ladies'  aid  society?  What  more  inviting  field  for  "going 
about  doing  good"  has  any  other  living  man? 

Final  success  in  this  campaign  in  the  South  depends, 
in  a  large  measure,  upon  the  negro  preacher.  We  neglect 
a  lower  type,  or  backward  race,  at  our  peril.  The  attempt 
to  ignore  or  leave  them  behind,  in  health  or  morals,  fails 
utterly,  and  results  in  our  retaining  them  as  dangerous 
neighbors.  The  policy  outlined  by  Cain's  selfish  question 
can  never  succeed  in  a  social  world.  The  colored  public, 
so  far,  has  taken  very  little  stock  in  the  doctors  of  their 
race,  but  the  preacher  still  holds  that  "fretful  realm  in 
awe."  The  politician  does  not  hesitate  to  use  him  when  he 
can ;  why  should  not  the  health  worker  find  in  him  a  useful 
and  willing  helper  in  what  has  hitherto  been  a  hopeless 
task? 

But  here  is  my  final  appeal.  It  must,  after  all,  be  seen 
as  a  great  moral  issue  and  have  the  great  moral  forces 
behind  it.  The  preacher  is  beginning  to  see  that  spiritual 
health  and  bodily  well-being  are  in  some  way  intricately 
connected.  As  he  looks  more  deeply  into  life,  he  discerns 
that  many  human  delinquencies  are  determined  by  some 
physical  defect,  that  there  is  a  "physiological  basis  of 
morals."  This  is  in  no  sense  to  take  the  place  of  personal 
faith  and  personal  piety.  Right  here  many  are  stumbling, 
just  as  for  years  they  stumbled  over  the  temperance  ques- 
tion. Scientific  temperance  was  not  of  the  pith  of  "the 
gospel."  The  moment  the  great  question  became  a  moral 
issue  nation-wide  victories  were  made  possible.     Nothing 


THE  CHURCH  AS  CONSERVER  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  395 

great  in  public  welfare  can  be  accomplished  until  it  becomes 
a  great  issue,  and  it  can  never  become  a  really  great  issue 
until  it  becomes  a  great  moral  issue.  It  must  be  no  sham 
battle.  When  the  preacher  and  the  doctor,  science  and 
religion,  sense  and  goodness  join  hands,  victory  will  be 
won,  and  won  by  putting  light  and  knowledge  where  dis- 
ease and  sin  now  hold  their  divided  reign.  From  these 
altered  conditions  will  come  a  new  earth  and  the  possibili- 
ties of  a  richer  heaven. 

The  doctor  and  preacher  are  natural  yokefellows;  the 
emphasis  of  one  may  be  on  the  bodies,  of  men  and  that  of 
the  other  on  their  souls.  Neither  knows  where  body  and 
soul  meet.  Side  by  side  they  labor,  each  consecrated  to 
the  saving  of  all  there  is  to  save  in  men,  and  in  this  beau- 
tiful fellowship  they  go  on  together  to  where  the  gates  open 
at  the  end  of  the  way. 


THE  CHURCH  AS  THE  CONSERVER  OF  HUMAN  LIFE 

FATHER  JOHN  D.   FOULKES,   S.J.,   PRESIDENT   JESUIT 
COLLEGE,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 

All  educated  men  and  women  know  too  well  what 
nations  thought  of  human  life  before  the  coming  of  Christ. 
The  slave,  according  to  pagan  ideas,  was  not  a  man,  but  a 
thing.  Hence  when  sickness  or  old  age  rendered  him  use- 
less he  was  put  to  death  or  left  to  die  of  hunger.  Finding 
that  the  beasts  of  the  circus  cost  too  much  to  feed,  Caligula 
gave  orders  to  cast  slaves  before  them  to  serve  as  food. 
For  the  amusement  of  the  populace  the  laws  sanctioned  the 
terrible  gladiatorial  combats.  To  celebrate  his  victory  over 
the  Dacians,  Trajan  gave,  during  twenty-three  days,  pub- 
lic games,  where  ten  thousand  gladiators  and  eleven  thou- 
sand wild  animals  were  engaged  in  slaughtering  each  other. 
Similar  combats  cost  yearly  the  lives  of  thirty  thousand 
men.  At  Athens,  as  well  as  in  Egypt,  the  man  who  wanted 
bread  and  would  beg  for  it  was  punishable  with  death, 
according  to  the  law.    Father  and  husband  were  but  master 


396  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

and  despot  in  pre-Christian  times.  In  him  the  right  of 
life  and  death  was  guaranteed  by  law.  At  Rome  when  a 
child  was  bom  he  was  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  father.  If  the 
latter  took  him  up  into  his  arms,  he  was  permitted  to  live ; 
if  not,  the  helpless  infant  was  strangled  or  thrown  into  the 
public  sewer,  or  exposed  on  the  public  squares  and  there 
left  to  die  of  hunger. 

But  what  a  change  when  the  Church  brought  Christian 
civilization  into  the  world!  It  began  on  the  day  that  the 
apostle  Peter,  invested  with  power,  wrought  his  first  con- 
versions. By  him  the  church  proclaimed  that  the  slave  has 
the  same  origin,  the  same  nature,  and  the  same  destiny  as 
his  master.  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor 
female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Jesus  Christ."  Under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Church,  taught  by  her  views  and  example, 
governments  emancipated  their  slaves;  nothing  was  omitted 
to  improve  the  condition  of  those  unfortunate  creatures, 
and  they  were  treated  as  brothers  and  sisters  of  their  mas- 
ters. On  the  first  day  of  January,  A.D.  404,  when  the  city 
of  Rome  was  celebrating  the  inauguration  of  its  new  Con- 
suls, a  Christian  monk  named  Telemachus,  who  had  come 
from  the  East,  suddenly  appeared  on  the  arena  of  the 
Coliseum.  He  threw  himself  between  the  gladiators  to 
separate  them.  Then,  addressing  the  spectators,  he  ex- 
claimed: "We  celebrate  to-day  the  octave  of  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  upon  earth ;  cease, 
therefore,  these  inhuman  games,  invented  by  pagan  cruelty." 
At  these  words  a  dreadful  tumult  arose  in  the  amphitheater. 
The  exasperated  populace  threw  itself  upon  Telemachus  and 
tore  him  to  pieces.  The  very  next  day  the  Emperor  Hono- 
rius  suppressed  gladiatorial  combats.  The  poor,  the  unfor- 
tunate, and  all  the  disinherited  children  of  fortune  saw  the 
assurance  of  a  change  in  their  fate  on  the  day  when  the 
Church  began  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  The  poor, 
the  sick,  abandoned  children,  the  aged,  all  the  victims  of 
suffering  were  surrounded  by  tender  solicitude ;  institutions 
of  charity  and  many  religious  orders  were  founded  to  alle- 


THE  CHURCH  AS  CONSERVER  OF  HUMAN  LIFE  397 

viate  the  numberless  ills  that  afflict  humanity.  Woman  was 
made  the  companion  of  man,  flesh  of  his  flesh  and  bone  of 
his  bone;  she  resumed  at  the  domestic  hearth  the  place  of 
honor  which  belongs  to  her,  there  to  reign  through  love,  as 
the  husband  reigns  through  authority.  Through  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Church,  children  have  become  the  objects  of  much 
solicitude.  For  them  refuges,  asylums,  orphanages,  and 
hospitals  have  been  founded.  How  the  Church  did  strive 
and  how  she  does  strive  to  be  the  conserver  of  human  life! 
She  had  her  Nosocomia  for  the  sick,  her  Brephotrophia  for 
foundlings;  her  Orphanotrophia  for  orphans;  her  Ptochia 
for  the  poor  who  were  unable  to  work ;  her  Gerontochia  for 
the  aged,  her  Henodochia  for  poor  or  infirm  pilgrims.  She 
it  was  who  established  the  first  Hotel-Dieu  (God's  Hostelry) 
in  France.  It  was  her  monasteries  of  monks  and  convents 
of  sisters  that  built  our  first  infirmaries,  sanitariums,  and 
hospitals.  We  can  recall  only  a  few  of  these  great  brother- 
hoods and  sisterhoods  of  the  past :  The  Knights  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  the  Teutonic  Order  (developed  out  of  the  field 
hospital  under  the  walls  of  Acre),  the  Knights  of  Rhodes, 
the  Knights  of  Malta,  the  Hospitalers  of  St.  John  of  Jeru- 
salem, of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  St.  Joseph.  The  famous  Lon- 
don hospital,  St.  Bartholomew's,  was  a  product  of  the 
Church  (A.D.  1112)  and  was  confiscated  by  Henry  VHI. 
In  1215  Peter,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  established  St.  Thomas 
in  London,  still  extant.  In  looking  over  documents  relative 
to  Scottish  and  Irish  Catholic  hospitals  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  remark  that  sanitation  was  a  prime 
factor  in  their  architecture.  The  form  of  the  hospital  was 
generally  similar  to  that  of  the  church;  the  nave  formed 
the  common  room,  the  beds  were  placed  in  the  transepts, 
and  the  whole  was  screened  oflf  from  the  eastern  end  of  the 
building,  where  was  the  chapel.  The  hospitals  were  in 
charge  of  a  warder  or  master,  superintendent  in  our  day, 
assisted  by  nurses.  This  was  their  first  rule:  "Dogs  and 
fools  and  female  scolds  must  be  kept  away  from  the  patient, 
lest  he  be  worried."  Care  was  taken  to  secure  the  best  loca- 
tion, the  bank  of  a  river  being  preferred.     The  Hotel-Dieu 


398  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

at  Paris  was  on  the  Seine,  Santo  Spirito  at  Rome  on  the 
Tiber,  St.  Francis  at  Prague  on  the  Moldau,  the  hospitals 
at  Mainz  and  Constance  on  the  Rhine,  that  at  Ratisbon  on 
the  Danube.  In  England  the  Church  usually  built  her  hos- 
pitals outside  the  city  walls  for  the  express  purpose  of  pro- 
viding better  air  for  the  inmates  and  of  preventing  the 
spread  of  infectious  and  contagious  diseases  of  all  kinds. 
The  first  hospital  ever  erected  in  America  was  that  of  the 
Purissima  Concepcion  in  Mexico  City.  The  great  Cortez 
founded  it  in  his  will  "for  the  graces  and  mercies  God  had 
bestowed  on  him  in  permitting  him  to  discover  and  conquer 
New  Spain."  This  foundation  was  made  about  1524.  It 
still  exists.  The  year  1639  saw  Canada's  first  Hotel-Dieu, 
established  at  Sillery  and  later  transferred  to  Quebec. 
There  are  at  present  eighty-seven  hospitals  in  Canada  under 
the  control  and  direction  of  various  Catholic  religious  com- 
munities. The  first  hospital  established  by  private  benef- 
icence in  the  United  States  was  our  own  Charity  Hospital 
in  New  Orleans.  Jean  Louis,  a  Catholic  sailor,  left  12,000 
livres  for  its  foundation.  It  was  destroyed  by  the  hurri- 
cane of  1779.  The  new  charity  hospital  (San  Carlos)  was 
founded  in  1780  and  endowed  by  the  Catholic  Spaniard  Don 
Andres  de  Almonester  y  Rosas  and  became  our  City  Hos- 
pital in  1811.  Still  in  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  it 
is  one  of  the  most  important  hospitals  in  the  country, 
receiving  annually  over  eight  thousand  patients.  There  are 
now  more  than  four  hundred  Catholic  hospitals  in  the 
United  States,  caring  for  about  half  a  million  patients 
annually.  The  modern  battle  field  has  been  the  occasion  of 
bringing  out  in  new  strength  of  beauty  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  which  animates  the  hospital  orders  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  the  conserver  of  human  life.  The  services  ren- 
dered by  the  sisters  to  the  wounded  and  dying  are  con- 
spicuous proof  of  that  Christian  charity  by  which  the 
Church  from  the  beginning  has  striven  by  all  possible 
means  to  alleviate  human  suffering.  The  hospital  of  to-day 
owes  much  to  scientific  progress,  generous  endowment,  and 
wise  administration ;  but  none  of  these  can  serve  as  a  sub- 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  LIFE  MORE  ABUNDANT  399 

stitute  for  the  unselfish  work  of  the  men  and  women  who 
minister  to  the  sick  as  to  the  person  of  Christ  himself. 

The  Catholic  Church  stands  out  as  the  conserver  of 
human  life  with  the  teaching  of  God:  "Increase  and  mul- 
tiply and  let  the  earth  be  filled."  Her  moral  code  forbids 
race  suicide  and  calls  it  homicide.  She  asserts  that  it  is 
never  lawful  directly  to  kill  the  innocent.  She  looks  upon 
the  fetus  as  a  human  being  with  a  human  soul,  which,  as 
is  commonly  held  by  her  theologians,  is  infused  into  it  by 
God  at  the  moment  of  conception.  Craniotomy  she  never 
allows  where  the  child  is  still  living.  She  strives  ever  to 
realize  in  her  life  the  teaching  of  her  founder,  Christ,  as 
promulgated  in  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan.  Even 
when  she  sees  them  in  the  embryonic  state  she  is  ever 
mindful  of  her  Master's  injunction,  ''Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren to  come  unto  me;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven." 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  HUMAN  LIFE  MORE 

ABUNDANT 

REV.  J.  A.  HORNBECK,  DALLAS,  TEX. 

"Th^  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale"  has  once  more 
touched  a  responsive,  sympathetic  chord  in  many  hearts. 
The  country's  contribution  of  men  and  women  who  have 
become  leaders  in  towns  and  cities,  in  every  department 
of  life,  reads  like  a  romance.  The  country  produces  men 
of  loftiest  type  and  women  that  are  modest,  courageous, 
and  pure  in  heart  and  life. 

The  program  for  the  country  church  may  be  expressed 
in  five  brief  statements:  1.  Preaching  the  gospel.  2.  Em- 
ploying every  member  in  Cliristlike  work.  3.  Ministering 
effectively  to  every  side  of  man's  nature.  4.  Developing 
the  financial  and  spiritual  resources  of  the  church.  5.  Dis- 
covering workers,  training  and  placing  them.  This  pro- 
gram lays  stress  on  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  on  health 
and  power  over  disease. 


400  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

They  tell  us  the  country  church  is  dying.  Who  cares? 
The  landowners,  the  bankers,  the  merchants,  the  lawyers, 
the  doctors,  the  railroad  men,  the  real  estate  men,  the  teach- 
ers, the  laboring  men,  every  humanitarian,  everybody  should 
care.  The  true  prosperity  and  moral  worth  of  every  com- 
munity in  the  country  stands  in  a  fixed  relation  to  the  pros- 
perity and  spirituality  of  the  Church. 

THE  IDEAL  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

"The  idealist  is  ofttimes  a  failure  and  the  practical  man 
a  fool,"  but  the  practical  man  who  lives  by  the  power  of  an 
ideal  is  a  success.  The  desk  man  has  created  his  ideal  for 
the  country  church.  The  city  man,  from  a  Pullman  win- 
dow, has  solved,  or  thinks  he  has  solved,  the  country  church's 
problems.  These  ideals  are  only  the  fringe  on  the  great 
rural  church  movement.  They  have  put  the  country  church 
problems  on  the  blackboard,  but  the  problem  must  be  solved 
by  men  who  are  country-minded  and  know  the  country. 

SOME  DEFECTS  OF  THE  COUNTRY   CHURCH 

We  may  have  defects  and  not  know  them.  I  have  found 
churches  dying  that  did  not  know  the  disease  that  was 
sapping  their  lives.  The  first  defect  is  inefficient  equip- 
ment. The  old-fashioned  church,  one  room,  barn-roofed, 
we  find  surrounded  by  costly  modern  residences,  modern 
barns,  modern  machinery,  and  on  Sunday  a  score  of  auto- 
mobiles. The  church  house  should  be  the  best  house  and 
the  best-equipped  house  in  the  community.  It  should  be 
constructed  to  meet  present-day  demands.  The  high  school 
building  that  stands  near  by  the  church  house  has  not  less 
than  five  rooms.  The  church  house  should  have  the  equip- 
ment equivalent  to  the  public  school  building. 

A  second  defect  is  inadequate  financial  support.  I  know 
a  pastor  whose  wife  sold  her  piano  in  order  that  debts  could 
be  paid — debts  made  with  the  expectation  of  being  paid 
from  a  salary  that  was  never  paid.  The  Church  people  did 
not  keep  faith  with  their  pledges.  The  promotion  of  the 
Master's  kingdom  stands  in  a  fixed  relation  to  men,  money, 
and  service. 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  LIFE  MORE  ABUNDANT  4G1 

The  country  preacher  should  have  a  living  wage.  What 
constitutes  a  living  wage?  An  income  that  would  reasona- 
bly satisfy  the  wants  of  the  body,  the  intellect,  and  a 
reasonable  ambition  for  improvement.  The  minimum  sal- 
ary in  the  country  should  not  be  less  than  $1,000  and  a 
manse,  a  cow,  and  horse.  The  Church  could  well  afford  this. 
A  preacher  that  cannot  be  trusted  with  the  care  of  a  horse 
and  cow  cannot  be  trusted  with  the  care  of  the  Church. 
The  Every-Member  Canvass  should  be  the  method  of  rais- 
ing the  pastor's  salary.  The  facts  stare  us  in  the  face.  The 
country  churches  are  without  system  and  are  not  giving 
,  commensurately  with  their  ability  nor  in  proportion  to  the 
way  they  are  spending  money  for  selfish  indulgence.  For 
a  pastor  to  want  while  the  people  have  plenty  is  inconsist- 
ent with  the  gospel  he  preaches.  I  once  was  young,  but  now 
I  am  old,  yet  I  have  never  seen  a  church  dying  from  over- 
paying the  pastor  or  giving  to  benevolences. 

The  third  defect  is  an  inefficient,  untrained  minister 
serving  the  country  churches.  This  comes  from  several 
causes.  The  rural  minister  is  improperly  educated,  the  sub- 
ject-matter taught  him  has  been  away  from  the  country. 
The  weakness  of  the  college  and  seminary  lies  in  the  fact 
that  they  have  no  country  program.  The  average  professor 
is  not  country-minded.  He  may  have  been  reared  in  the 
country,  but  the  country  now  is  not  the  country  they  knew. 
From  the  time  a  young  man  is  taken  under  the  care  for  the 
ministry  until  his  graduation  from  the  seminary  every  fin- 
ger of  hope  points  to  the  city  pulpit,  and  there  are  very 
few  country  preachers  from  choice.  The  country  preacher 
generally  keeps  his  ear  to  the  ground  to  hear  a  call  from 
the  city,  and  keeps  both  hands  outstretched  to  catch  the 
call. 

The  country  people  want  men  to  live  out  in  the  open 
with  them.  They  are  tired  of  absent  treatment,  having  the 
preacher  to  come  out  of  the  town  or  city  to  the  church  he 
serves.  The  country  asks  for  service  that  costs,  the  cost 
of  self-renunciation,  the  cost  of  human  energy,  the  cost  of 
the  divine  sacrifice.     The  country  has  opportunities  that 

26 


402  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

ghould  appeal  to  every  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.  Through 
intimate  relation  with  every  home  and  by  living  in  every 
heart  in  his  pastorate,  he  can  render  a  matchless  service 
and  reap  an  imperial  reward. 

THE    MAN    THE    COUNTRY    NEEDS 

First,  preachers  of  vision  that  can  see  the  needs  and 
understand  the  country  people.  Second,  practical  men  for 
pastors,  men  who  can  get  results.  Third,  original  men  who 
can  make  and  execute  a  program  that  will  make  glad  the 
city  of  God.  Fourth,  progressive  men,  aggressive  men,  who 
do  not  hesitate  to  break  with  old  ideas  and  traditional  re- 
ligions when  they  no  longer  meet  the  cry  of  human  need, 
men  who  can  grow  a  crop  of  ideas.  Fifth,  trained  men  who 
come  to  their  work  with  knowledge  and  power,  who  have 
thought  long  and  deeply  on  the  problems  of  human  life, 
men  who  can  hammer  ou'^  a  campaign  for  public  welfare, 
constructive  men,  persistent  men. 

The  rural  pastor  should  be  a  community  man  and  have 
acquaintance  with  the  scientific  methods  of  farming.  Con- 
servation should  be  his  big  word — the  conservation  not 
only  of  all  the  good  in  our  churches  and  social  orders,  but 
of  the  soil's  fertility  also,  against  the  plunderers  and  rob- 
bers of  the  generations  to  come.  The  soil  is  the  world's 
endowment. 

The  rural  pastor  should  know  how  to  organize  his  pas- 
torate into  social  centers,  not  to  think  and  preach  so  much 
about  the  golden  streets  and  the  angel  songs,  but  the  golden 
opportunities  now  and  here  to  make  men  care-free  and 
happy.  The  ultimate  aim  should  be  to  teach  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  have  a  worth-while  religion. 

POINTS  OF  CONTACT 

The  country  pastor  and  church  should  have  an  eye  on 
the  boys'  corn  and  pig  clubs  and  the  girls'  canning  and 
economic  clubs.  The  boys'  clubs  have  worked  wonders. 
The  Governor  of  our  great  State  did  not  think  it  an  insig- 
nificant task  to  address  the  boys  of  Hill  County  on  the  sub- 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  LIFE  MORE  ABUNDANT  403 

ject  of  pigs.  A  member  of  a  com  club  in  Rusk  County, 
by  scientific  methods  in  farming,  produced  117  bushels  of 
corn  on  one  acre  of  ground,  while  his  father,  in  the  open 
field,  raised  15  bushels  per  acre.  Near  Athens,  La.,  a  boy 
has  given  direction  to  reclaiming  worn-out  soil  that  is  now 
producing  above  50  bushels  of  com  per  acre.  These  boys' 
clubs  are  the  key  to  a  better  farm  income.  There  is  need 
of  the  girls'  economic  clubs.  Every  normal  girl  looks  for- 
ward  to  the  time  when  she  will  have  the  care  of  her  own 
home.  It  takes  but  little  touch  of  intelligence  and  industry 
to  have  from  the  farm,  by  understanding  the  methods  of 
canning,  an  "abundance  the  year  round.  The  country  church 
cannot  be  indifferent  nor  ignorant  in  these  things. 

Boys  especially  are  controlled  by  the  gang  spirit.  They 
may  meet  at  the  crossroads  to  plan  raids  on  orchards  and 
melon  patches,  or  they  may  meet  in  the  church  house  with 
the  pastor  or  on  the  athletic  field.  The  church  and  pastor 
should  give  direction  to  the  sports,  pastimes,  recreations, 
and  economic  training  of  the  boys  and  girls,  giving  to  all  a 
religious  purpose.  There  comes  a  time  in  the  lives  of  boys 
when  they  naturally  shun  saints  and  girls.  The  tactful  pas- 
tor can  at  this  period  grip  the  boys'  confidence  and  type 
his  life. 

HOW  DO  YOU  DO? — IN   THE  COUNTRY 

The  rural  pastor  should  cooperate  with  the  physician 
in  keeping  people  out  of  heaven.  Preventive  medicine  is  a 
modern  impressive  term.  More  than  one  hundred  years 
ago,  on  the  brow  of  a  long,  dark  night,  a  star  appeared. 
Dr.  Jenner  with  his  cowpox  vaccine.  In  1876  Dr.  Koch 
made  plain  the  cause  of  the  great  white  plague.  In  1881 
the  great  biologist  announced  his  protective  vaccine  against 
splenic  fever.  The  same  man  in  1885  prevented  the  develop- 
ment of  rabies.  The  bands  of  night  were  broken  and  the 
doors  of  preventive  medicine  swung  wide  open.  Ten  years 
later  came  the  antitoxin  treatment  for  diphtheria.  This 
made  a  new  epoch  in  a  new  world  of  preventive  medicine. 
Then  came  the  discovery  of  disease  carriers.  Because  men 
died  to  make  certain  this  discovery  thousands  live  to-day. 


404  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

The  mission  of  Jesus  Christ  was  not  alone  to  save  men  in 
heaven,  but  to  give  them  life  here  and  life  more  abundantly. 
The  pastor  in  the  country  has  a  supreme  opportunity  with 
the  physician  in  the  war  on  disease,  superstition,  patent 
medicine,  and  quackery. 

IS  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  DEMOCRATIC? 

We  need  a  reform  in  the  administration  of  the  rural 
church.  One  or  two  men  dictate  the  policy  of  the  average 
country  church.  The  members  do  not  know  why  or  how 
things  are  done.  I  have  been  in  churches  where  I  was  told 
they  had  never  had  a  congregational  meeting  and  years  had 
passed  without  a  meeting  of  the  official  boards  or  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper  being  administered.  The  rural 
people  believe  in  Christianity,  they  believe  in  the  Protestant 
Church,  they  are  free  from  a  thousand  city  isms.  Masses 
believe  in  a  real  conversion,  a  real  heaven  and  hell.  They 
are  easy  to  reach,  and  now  is  the  time. 


THE  CHURCH  ORGANIZED  FOR  SOCIAL  EFFICIENCY 

WARREN   H.  WILSON,  D.D.,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  social  efficiency  of  the  country  church  is  measured 
by  the  acute  and  narrow  crisis  which  confronts  the  farmer ; 
for  the  farmer  is  the  dominant  social  type  in  the  country. 
Indeed,  the  reason  why  country  church  work  is  socialized 
is  generally  the  fact  that  the  Church  has  to  depend  upon 
only  one  economic  type.  Everything  in  the  country  church 
is  colored  by  its  dependence  on  agriculture  and  upon  the 
working  farmer. 

Now,  the  luorking  farmer  is  a  dominant  type.  The 
country  church  has  to  be  so  organized  as  to  control  and 
command  the  most  free-moving,  independent  people  in  the 
world.  The  farmer  has  stayed  in  the  country  when  others 
have  gone  to  town,  mainly  because  he  likes  to  command, 
control,  own,  and  manage.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
farmers  are  money-makers.    If  they  were,  they  would  be  in 


CHURCH  ORGANIZED  FOR  SOCIAL  EFFICIENCY  405 

the  town.  They  are  in  the  country  in  spite  of  their  recog- 
nition of  the  small  money  income  from  farming,  because 
they  want  to  be  independent  and  own  their  homes,  their 
cattle,  their  household,  and  their  other  properties.  The 
Church  must  be  able  to  suggest  and  to  impart  such  impulses 
as  to  make  farmers  able  to  govern  themselves.  The  farmer 
cannot  be  commanded:  he  must  be  hypnotized.  He  must 
be  made  to  command  himself.  Therefore  the  Church  must 
be  rich  in  all  kinds  of  suggestive  and  imitative  material. 
It  must  be  a  very  active  organization  in  order  that  the 
farmer  may  learn  by  doing;  for  what  he  does  teaches  him- 
self, and  he  will  usually  learn  from  no  other.  Preaching 
should  follow  practice,  not  precede  it.  Most  country 
churches  have  nothing  but  preaching,  and  their  influence  is 
limited  by  that  fact. 

Again,  country  people  are  suffering  great  injustice.  The 
farmer  may  be  compared  to  an  old  man,  and  rich,  whom 
all  his  relatives  rob.  When  people  speak  of  the  "old  farm- 
er," they  mean  by  this  that  agriculture  is  the  most  ancient 
occupation  of  all,  and  they  covertly  mean  that  all  the  mid- 
dlemen and  those  that  wear  store  clothes  live  in  the  villages 
and  the  cities  at  the  expense  of  the  country  dwellers.  The 
country  church  must  solve  the  problem  of  economic  and 
social  justice,  and  the  minister  must  be  wise — he  and  his 
fellow  officers  must  be  able  to  detect  the  spurious  proposals 
from  genuine  remedies.  The  farmer  often  hears  volumi- 
nous talk,  and  at  times  as  he  listens  to  agitators  he  breaks 
out  in  violent  proposals  which  do  no  good,  but  often  do 
harm.  Meantime  the  problem  of  rural  injustice  has  to  be 
stated  as  precisely  as  by  a  chemical  formula,  and  the 
Church  ought  to  be  possessed  of  this  secret.  Agricultural 
cooperation  in  Europe  has  successfully  solved  the  problem 
of  farm  justice.  We  need  to  state  this  solution  and  adapt 
its  principles  to  our  needs.  The  country  church  should 
have  the  formula  of  justice  to-day,  as  the  Church  has  in 
all  ages  of  the  world  been  an  oracle  of  righteousness.  The 
schools  of  the  prophets  in  Old  Testament  times  were  the 
founders  of  democratic  justice,  and  the  little  independent 


406  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

church  in  the  country  should  concern  itself  with  the  needs 
of  the  farm  renter  and  with  the  mortgage  of  the  farm 
debtor,  with  securing  an  income  for  the  farmer's  wife  and 
an  allowance  for  the  farmer's  son. 

The  third  outstanding  fact  that  controls  life  in  the  coun- 
try is  superstition.  I  use  this  term  to  cover  a  host  of  mis- 
beliefs and  wrong  philosophies  which  arise  out  of  the 
limited  habitat,  the  intercourse  with  nature,  and  the  tra- 
ditionalism which  are  essential  to  country  life.  Here  we 
have  the  man  of  our  stock  face  to  face  with  original  chaos. 
Every  day  he  handles  inorganic  matter.  He  deals  with 
mystery  every  night;  he  looks  into  the  void  every  morning 
and  every  evening.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he 
exalts  the  unusual  and  the  extraordinary  almost  to  the 
point  of  seeing  miracles.  Nor  are  we  to  be  surprised  that 
he  "farms  by  the  moon,"  as  the  phrase  is;  for  farming  is 
so  absorbing  that  the  man  who  does  it  can  think  of  noth- 
ing else.  If  he  does,  he  will  fail  as  a  farmer.  He  there- 
fore watches  the  weather,  the  moon,  the  sun,  the  stars,  the 
black  dull  earth,  and  the  wild  creatures;  and  the  effect  of 
that  upon  his  mind  is  to  make  him  exalt  miracles,  trust  in 
signs,  and  magnify  the  forces  of  mystery.  Then,  he  has 
to  live  by  tradition,  by  the  mere  nature  of  his  craft.  It 
cannot  be  done  otherwise.  Farming  is  a  matter  of  more 
than  one  generation.  No  man  can  learn  it  in  a  lifetime; 
so  that  all  the  bad  misbeliefs  stay  by  and  become  traditions 
more  binding  than  the  learning  of  colleges. 

I  heard  of  a  church  in  Tennessee  that  has  four  congre- 
gations worshiping  in  one  meetinghouse.  I  venture  that 
there  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  members  distributed 
between  all  these  four  societies;  but  the  diversities  which 
separate  them  are  compounded  of  the  narrowing  circum- 
stances of  the  country,  of  the  country  tradition,  and  of  the 
forces  and  scruples  of  a  people  whose  minds  are  not  en- 
larged by  varying  and  enriching  contacts  with  many  peo- 
ple. Now  the  Church  in  the  country  must  be  so  organized 
as  to  deliver  the  forces  of  learning,  education,  science, 
criticism,  and  literature  upon  the  rural  mind.     It  mast  be 


CHURCH  ORGANIZED  FOR  SOCIAL  EFFICIENCY  407 

an  outpost  against  superstition.  It  does  not  need  so  much 
to  increase  religion  as  to  train  it,  to  bring  the  test  of  proof 
and  of  pragmatic  sanction  to  the  surging  and  swelling  tide 
of  prayer,  fear,  and  emotion,  which  rises  out  of  the  life  of 
man  in  his  struggle  with  nature. 

The  organization  which  I  commend  in  this  situation 
is  very  simple.  What  the  country  needs  is  just  what  the 
churches  all  have,  at  least  the  responsible  churches;  and  I 
have  no  use  for  any  others  in  the  country.  I  belong  to  a 
responsible  church  myself.  It  is  one  of  a  dozen  which 
might  be  commended  to  country  people.  Any  one  of  those 
denominations  is  advocated  as  much  as  another  in  the 
remedy  which  I  will  propose.  It  is  very  simple.  The  coun- 
try church  ought  to  worship  every  Sabbath  day.  It  ought 
to  have  a  resident  minister  educated  in  the  college  and  the 
university  and  in  the  seminary.  It  ought  to  train  its  peo- 
ple in  giving  to  the  great  causes  of  Christendom.  It  should 
cultivate  in  them  the  habits  of  community  service  and  it 
should  take  part  in  the  missionary  work  by  which  the  whole 
world  is  to  be  evangelized.  In  other  words,  the  leading 
Protestant  denominations  are  to-day  great  socialized  or- 
ganizations. The  gospel  of  organization,  in  which  they 
agree,  is  the  very  thing  the  country  church  needs.  With- 
out this  central  type  of  organization  there  can  be  no  excep- 
tional efficiency.  Unless  a  church  is  a  church  of  such  type 
as  responsible  Christian  people  usually  believe  in,  there  can 
be  no  parish  houses,  farmers'  institutes,  play  festivals,  or 
other  unusual  social  efficiencies.  The  gospel,  the  Sabbath, 
the  college,  the  budget  system  of  benevolences,  and  the  mis- 
sionary conquest  of  the  world  are  the  ganglion  center  of  a 
church's  work.  The  Church  exists  to  evangelize  and  to 
Christianize  the  world.  Country  churches  are  not  so  organ- 
ized. They  are  organized  for  argument  and  difference,  for 
dogmatical  clash,  and  for  keeping  the  people  apart. 

Now  you  ask  me  how  this  organization  shall  be  estab- 
lished. It  seems  to  me  this  is  the  business  of  the  leading 
Protestant  denominations,  and  I  would  add  Catholic  as 
well,  for  I  have  no  church  preference  in  the  cause  I  am 


408  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

presenting.  I  am  interested  only  that  the  Church  be  organ- 
ized for  social  efficiency.  It  cannot  be  done  without  the 
driving  forces  of  a  great  denomination.  In  my  own  church 
we  are  going  about  it  point  by  point,  church  by  church, 
minister  by  minister,  salary  by  salary,  dollar  by  dollar.  In 
dependent  territory  where  there  are  many  people  and  small 
incomes  we  build  a  mission  station  with  a  man  who  has 
given  his  life  to  the  work  of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  and  he 
goes  where  he  is  sent.  We  keep  him,  as  we  expect  to  main- 
tain any  man,  for  at  least  five  years  in  a  place,  in  order 
that  he  may  accomplish  some  effective  social  work.  We 
take  in  a  locality  those  churches  which  have  promise  of 
social  effectiveness,  whether  they  are  poor  or  whether  they 
are  rich,  and  promote  them  as  mission  stations  or  as  self- 
supporting  congregations,  and  we  expect  to  get  results. 

I  believe  this  is  the  only  way  the  thing  can  be  done.  If 
the  great  denominations  which  center  in  the  cities  and  are 
blessed  with  the  gifts  of  rich  men,  and  with  the  conse- 
crated talents  of  educated  and  choice  people,  will  not  under- 
take to  redeem  the  country,  then  these  mighty  forces  of 
wealth,  learning,  and  privilege,  which  center  in  cities,  will 
continue  to  rob  the  open  country.  Social  efficiency  centers 
in  the  cities  and  in  the  State  and  National  governments. 
These  forces  are  responsible,  as  the  colleges  are  respon- 
sible, for  establishing  strong  men  in  the  country.  The  set- 
tled pastor  living  from  five  to  ten  years  in  the  country 
neighborhood  and  maintaining  a  church,  as  Christian  peo- 
ple know  how  to  maintain  the  Church,  is  the  solution  of 
the  problem  of  social  efficiency  in  the  country. 


XI.     OEGANIZATION 


Organization  of  the  Congress 

Oonstitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Southern  Socio- 

Officers 

Index  to  Subjects 

Index  to  Speakers,  Writers,  and  Officers 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CONGRESS 


OFFICERS 


President Bishop  Theodore  D.  Bratton,  Jackson,  Miss. 

First  Vice  President Rabbi  Morris  Newfleld,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

Second  Vice  President Hon.  Albert  S.  Johnstone,  Columbia,  S,  C. 

Treasurer Dr.  Edwin  C.  Dinvriddie,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Educational  Secretary J.  E.  McCulloch,  Waahlnpton,  D.  C. 

BOARD   OF  GOVERNORS 

Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  Chairman Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mr.  Joseph  C.  Logan,  Secretary Atlanta,  Ga. 

Dr.  James  H.  Dillard Charlottesrille,'  Va. 

Prof.  J.  A.  C.  Chandler Richmond,  Va. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Blades Newbern,  N.  C. 

STATE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEEMEN 

Mr.  O.  L.  Steele Alabama 

Dr.  A.  C.  Miller Arkansas 

Dr.  E.  C.  Dinwiddie District  of  Columbia 

Prof.  J.  M.  Farr Florida 

Dr.  C.  B.  Wilmer Georgia 

Miss  Frances  Ingram Kentucky 

Hon.  W.   O.  Hart Louisiana 

Miss  Elizabeth  Gilman Maryland 

Mr.  J.  R.  Bingham Mississippi 

Dr.  J.  J.  Bernard Missouri 

Prof.  E.  C.  Branson North  Carolina 

Dr.  W.  D.  Matthews Oklahoma 

Dr.  A.  T.  Jamison South  Carolina 

Mr.  W.  R.  Cole Tennessee 

Dean  J.  L.  Kesler Texas 

Prof.  Jackson  Davis Virginia 

Prof.  E.  H.  Vickers West  Virginia 

STATE  SECRETARIES 

Alabama Prof.  J.  L.  Sibley 

Arkansas Mr.  J.  A.  Presson 

District  of  Columbia Mr.  W.  L.  Radcliff 

Florida -Mr.  Marcus  C.  Fagg 

Georgia Prof.  J.  P.  Faulkner 

Kentucky Prof.  J.  Virgil  Chapman 

Louisiana Prof.   W.   O.   Scroggs 

Maryland . , Dr.  Richard  W.  Hogue 

Mississippi Prof.    H.   O.    Pate 

Missouri Dr.    George   B.    Mangold 

North  Carolina Judge  Gilbert  T.  Stephenson 

Oklahoma Prof.    J.    W.    Jent. 

South  Carolina ^ Mis.  Thomas  S.  Silcox 

Tennessee Mr.  C.  C.  Menzler 

Texas P.  of .   A.   Caswell  Ellis 

Virginia Dr.    J.    T.    Mastin 

West  Virgin!.. Miss  Viola  McKinney 


CONSTITUTION  AND  BY-LAWS  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

PURPOSE  AND  MEMBERSHIP 

The  purpose  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress  is  to 
study  and  improve  the  social,  civic,  and  moral  conditions 
in  the  South.  Its  membership  shall  be  composed  of  all  per- 
sons interested  in  its  work  who  shall  register  their  names 
and  pay  the  annual  fee.  The  memberships  shall  be  of  the 
following  classes:  Active  members,  $3  per  year;  sustain- 
ing members,  $10  per  year;  extension  members,  $25  per 
year;  and  life  members,  $100.  Any  person  paying  any  of 
these  fees  shall  receive  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  and  any 
other  publications  of  the  Congress.  Delegates  to  the  Con- 
gress may  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  each  State  coop- 
erating with  it,  by  Mayors  of  cities  in  these  States,  and  by 
organizations  and  institutions  engaged  in  social  service, 
and,  upon  payment  of  the  membership  fees,  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  privileges. 

MEETINGS 

The  Southern  Sociological  Congress  shall  meet  once  each 
year,  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  designated  by  the 
Governing  Board.  There  shall  be  a  local  committee  in  each 
city  having  a  meeting  of  the  Congress,  and  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  this  committee  to  provide  any  necessary  funds  and 
make  all  local  arrangements  for  the  meeting  satisfactory  to 
the  Governing  Board. 

OFFICERS 

The  officers  of  the  Southern  Sociolog-ical  Congress  shall 
be  a  President,  First  and  Second  Vice  Presidents,  an  Edu- 
cational Secretary,  an  Executive  Secretary,  a  Treasurer, 
and  a  Corresponding  Secretary  for  each  State.  All  of  these 
officers  shall  be  elected  or  authorized  annually  by  the  Con- 
gress, upon  nomination  of  the  Committee  on  Organization. 

COMMITTEES 

The  standing  committees  shall  be  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee; a  Governing  Board;  a  committee  on  each  subject 
which  it  is  proposed  to  discuss  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 


412  DEMOCRACY  IN  EARNEST 

Congnress,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Committee  on  Organiza- 
tion; and  a  committee  to  be  composed  of  the  Chairmen  of 
these  standing  committees,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  report  a 
social  program  before  the  close  of  the  Congress,  and  to 
which  committee  all  resolutions  shall  be  referred  without 
debate. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  consist  of  the  President, 
the  Treasurer,  one  member  from  each  Southern  State,  to  be 
elected  annually  by  the  Congress,  together  with  the  Gov- 
erning Board  of  the  Congress.  This  Committee  shall  be 
presided  over  by  the  President  of  the  Congress,  who  shall 
call  them  together  at  such  time  or  times  as  he  may  deem 
advisable.    Five  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

The  Governing  Board  shall  consist  of  five  members 
chosen  for  reasons  of  executive  capacity,  and  who  shall,  so 
far  as  reasonably  possible,  live  within  such  convenient  trav- 
eling distance  of  some  central  point  as  will  enable  them  to 
meet  at  least  four  times  a  year.  It  shall  have  power  to 
transact  all  necessary  business  in  the  interim  between  the 
meetings  of  the  Congress,  or  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  shall  have  within  the  limits  set  by  the  Congress  author- 
ity over  all  officers  and  committees  of  the  Congress.  It  may 
appoint  from  its  own  membership,  and  outside,  sub- 
committees to  attend  to  matters  of  detail.  This  Board  shall 
have  its  own  Chairman.  The  Board  shall  be  divided  into 
three  branches  elected  for  three  years  each.  Three  mem- 
bers shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  any  meeting  properly 
called  with  sufficient  notice  to  all  the  members.  The  Presi- 
dent and  Treasurer  shall  be  ex  officio  members  of  this  Board. 

A  Committee  on  Organization  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
President  at  the  opening  session.  Its  duty  shall  be  to  select 
topics  for  discussion  and  nominate  officers  and  committees 
for  the  following  Congress. 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

The  President  shall  be  the  chief  executive  officer  and 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee.  In  the  event  of  a 
vacancy  in  the  office  of  President,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the 


CONSTITUTION  AND  BY-LAWS  OF  THE  CONGRESS        413 

First  Vice  President;  and  in  the  event  of  a  vacancy  in  the 
office  of  First  Vice  President,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the  Second 
Vice  President. 

The  Educational  Secretary  shall  outline  plans  of  work 
and  methods  of  procedure;  shall  edit  the  publications  and 
spread  the  gospel  of  the  organization  by  travel  and  speech ; 
and  shall  guide  the  Congress  in  its  task  of  social  and  spir- 
itual leadership  in  the  South;  all  this  under  the  authority 
and  direction  of  the  Congress  and  of  the  Governing  Board. 

The  Executive  Secretary  shall  conduct  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  Congress  with  officers,  committees,  and  others 
under  the  direction  of  the  President.  He  shall  distribute 
the  announcements  and  programs  and  keep  a  correct  roll  of 
members.  He  shall  receive  all  membership  fees  and  proceeds 
of  sales  of  literature  and  pay  the  same  promptly  to  the 
Treasurer.  He  shall  receive  such  compensation  and  allow- 
ance for  expenses  as  may  be  fixed  by  the  Governing  Board, 
and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall  be  ordered  by 
the  Governing  Board. 

The  Treasurer  shall  receive  and  disburse  all  moneys  of 
the  Congress.  All  disbursements  shall  be  made  only  upon 
the  order  of  the  Executive  Secretary  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent or  by  some  member  of  the  Governing  Board  to  be 
named  by  the  President. 

The  Corresponding  Secretaries  shall  endeavor  to  stimu- 
late interest  in  the  Congress  in  their  respective  States,  and 
shall  render  annual  reports  to  the  Educational  Secretary  as 
to  social,  civic,  and  economic  progress  within  the  said  States. 

PROGRAM  AND  PROCEDURE 

The  program  of  each  annual  meeting  shall  be  arranged 
by  the  President  in  consultation  with  the  Chairman  of  each 
standing  committee,  and  it  shall  be  submitted  to  the  Gov- 
erning Board  for  its  approval.  All  papers  shall  first  be  pre- 
sented to  that  Board  before  they  are  read  to  the  Congress. 

These  by-laws  may  be  amended  by  a  majority  vote  at 
any  meeting  of  the  Congress,  provided  that  all  amendments 
shall  first  be  submitted  to  the  Executive  Committee. 


INDEX  TO  SUBJECTS 


A 

PAGE 

Abolition  of  Poverty,  The 281 

Alcohol's   Health   Toll 297 

America — Peacemaker  or   Pacemaker? 76 

America's  Answer  to  the  German  Challenge 54 

C 

Call  from  the  Firing  Line,  The 48 

Causes,  Consequences,  and  Cure  of  Mob  Violence 191 

Challenge  to  the  New  Chivalry,  A 26 

Child  and  Heredity,  The 269 

Church  as  the  Conserver  of  Human  Life,  The 395 

Church  Organized  for  Socal  Efficiency,  The 404 

Country  Church  and  Human  Life  More  Abundant,  The 399 

Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  Congress 411 

Creed  and  a  Crusade,  A 208 

Cry  of  the  Children,  The 244 

D 

Duty  of  Southern  Labor  During  the  War,  The.  ..       219 

E 

E}volution  of  the  Trained  Nurse,  The 117 

F 

Fight  Against  Tuberculosis,  The 155 

G 

Great  Commandment,   The 16 

Great  Enemy  of  Labor,  The 296 

Greetings  from  President  Wilson 11 

H 

Healthgrams    88 

Housing  and  Community  Health  Among  Negroes 362 

Housing  in   Preventing  Disease 125 

I 

111  Plealth,  Narcotics,  and  Lawlessness  Among  Negroes 350 

Introductory  Statement  at  Race  Relations  Section 319 

K 

Keeping  the  Soldier  Fit  to  Fight 174 

L 

Labor  Values  Destroyed  by  Disease 211 

Labor's  Challenge  to  Democracy 229 

Letter  from  Hon.  W.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Labor 2G9 

M 
Maintaining   a   Proper   Bacteriological   and   Chemical   Standard 

for  Drinking  Water 113 

Marriage  Health  Certificate,  The 107 

Minister  as  a  Health  Propagandist,  The 377 

Mo'b  Violence — An  Enemy  of  Both  Races 186 


INDEX  TO  SUBJECTS  415 

PAGB 

Modern  Orphanage  in  the  South,  The 245 

Moral  Alms  of  the  War,  The 73 

Moral  Causes  of  the  War,  The 62 

Mortality  from  Cancer  in  the  Southern  States 15& 

N 

Necessitj  of  America's  Part  in  the  War,  The 4? 

Negro  Church  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health,  The 82ff 

Negro  Home  and  the  Future  of  the  Race,  The 334 

New  Era,  The 28a 

O 

Objective  of  the  Congress,  The IJ 

Open  Door  to  Industry  on  the  Basis  of  Efficiency,  An 234 

P 

Peril  of  Venereal  Diseases,  The 168 

Play  Life  of  Negro  Boys  and  Girls,  The 354 

Point  of  Explosion  Between  the  Spiritual  and  the  Economic,  The  382 

Policemen  as  Welfare  Workers 290 

Preacher  and  Physician  Yokefellows  in  the  Health  Campaign,  The  389 

Present  Task  of  the  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  The 23 

Prevalence  and  Prevention  of  Malaria 151 

Prevention  of  Blindness,  The 139 

Problem  of  War  and  the  Program  of  the  League   to   Enforce 

Peace,  The 79 

Program  of  the  Congress,  The 12 

Protection  Against  Bad  Air 132 

R 

Race  Distinctions  Versus  Race  Discriminations 201 

Religious  Life  of  the  Negro  and  Its  Bearing  on  Health,  The.  .  .  321 

Responsibility  for  Health  in  Public  Schools ' 257 

Righting  Racial  Wrongs  and  Making  Democracy  Safe 372 

S 

School  as  a  Focus  of  Disease,  The 251 

Secret   Societies   as   Factors   in   the  Social  and  Economic   Life 

of  the  Negro 342 

Social  Program  of  the  Congress,  The 318 

Sociological  Aspects  of  the  Alcoholic  Problem 305 

Some  Evils  of  Self-Medication 102 

Some  Objections  to  the  Pee  System  in  the  Practice  of  Medicine  95 
Some  Phases  of  the  World-Wide  Prohibition  Movement  and  Its 

Relation  to  Christian  Citizenship 316 

State  as  the  Guardian  of  Public  Health 89 

T 

Task  of  Good  Citizenship,  The 15- 

Teaching  Health  in  the  Public  Schools 262" 

Treatment  of  the  Insane  Outside  of  Hospitals 145- 

V 

Value  of  the  Social  Worker  to  the  Community  at  Large,  The.  .  .  284 

Vitalizing  the  Law 181 

W 
What  Can  the  Church  Do  to  Promote  Good  Will  Between  the 

Races?    366 

What  of  the  Church? 376 

Work  for  the  Handicapped 287 


INDEX  TO  SPEAKERS,  WRITERS  AND 
OFFICERS 


PAGE 

AxsOTi,  Dr.  Stockton 54 

Bernard,  Dr.  J.  J 410 

Bingham,  J.  B 410 

Bishop,  Dr.  Charles  M 191 

Blades,  J.  B 410 

Branson,  Prof.  E.  C 410 

Bratton,  Bishop  Theo.  D..234,  410 

Brooks,  Dr.  Samuel  P 15 

Brough,  Gov.  C.  H 13 

Carroll,  Dr.  Richard 328 

Chandler,  Prof.  J.  A.  C. .  .  .  •   410 

Chapman,  Prof.  J.  Virgil...   410 
Cherrington,  Ernest  H. . . ...   ^14 

Clinton,  Bishop  George  W..  .  .   6bb 

Coffee,  Rabbi  Rudolph  1 281 

Cole,  W.  R flO 

Creel,  Dr.  R.  H 125 

Cromer,  Dr.  George  B 4d 

Crothers,  Dr.  T.  D 305 

Crouch,  Frank  Monroe ^»^ 

Davis,  Prof.  Jackson 410 

Dillard,  Dr.  James  H 319,  410 

Dinwiddie,  Dr.  Edwin  C 410 

Dowling,  Dr.  Oscar 12,  107 

Dyer,  Dr.   Isadore 102 

Ellis,  Prof.  A.  Caswell 410 

Fagg,  Marcus  C 410 

Farr,  Prof.  J.  M 410 

Faulkner,  Prof.  J.  P 262,  410 

Foulkes,  Father  John  D 395 

Fox,  Dr.  J.  H 145 

Gardner,  Dr.  Charles  S 377 

Geisel,  Dr.  Carolyn 297 

Gilman,  Miss  Elizabeth.  .287,  410 

Godbold,  E 251 

Harris,  Dr.  Seale 89 

Hart,  Hon.  W.  0 410 

Hatfield,  Dr.  Charles  J 155 

Hoffman,  Dr.  Frederick  L 158 

Hogue,  Rev.  Richard  W..269,  410 

HoUey,  Mrs.  Helena 257 

Holloway,  Prof.  W.  H 321 

Hombeck,  Rev.  J.  A, 399 

Hyer,  Dr.  Robert  S 95 

Ingram,   Miss  Frances 410 

Jamison,  Dr.  A.  T 410 

Jent,  Prof.  J.  W 410 

Johnson,  Hon.  Albert 48 

Johnstone,  Hon.  A.  S 23,  410 

Johnson,  Major  Bascom 174 


PAGE 

Kesler,  Dean  J.  L 389,  410 

Kesler,  Dr.  M.  L 245 

Klingberg,  Prof.  Frank,  J. .  .     79 

Logan,  Joseph  C 410 

Ljmch,  Rev.   Frederick 73 

McCulloch,  J.  E 13,  26,  410 

Macfarland,  Rev.  Chas,  S 62 

McKenzie,  Dr.  F.  A 362 

McKinney,   Miss   Viola 410 

Mangold,  Dr.  George  B 410 

Mastin,  Dr.  J.  T 410 

Matthews,  Dr.  W.  D 410 

Menzler,  C.   C 410 

Miller,  Dr.  A.  C 410 

Morrison,  Hon.   Frank 229 

Morse,  Dr.  Josiah 211 

Moton,  Pres.  Robert  Russa. .   219 

Newfield,  Rabbi  Morris 410 

Pate,  Prof.  H.  0 410 

Patterson,   Chas,    H 284 

Presson,  J.  A 410 

Radcliff,  W.  L 410 

Ramsey,  D.  Hiden 290 

Ray,  Hon.  John  E 139 

Riddle,  Miss  Mary  M 117 

Saville,  Charles 132 

Scherer,  Dr.  Jas.  A.  B 43 

Scroggs,  Prof.  W.  0 185,  410 

Seemann,  Dr.  W.  H 113 

Sibley,  Prof.  L.  L 410 

Silcox,  Mrs.  Thomas  S 410 

Snow,  Dr.  William  F 168 

Steele,  O.  L 410 

Stephenson,  Judge  G.  T..201,  410 

Sutton,  Hon  J.  L 350 

Tillett,  Dean  W.  F 372 

Trawick,  A.  M 354 

Turner,  Judge  W.  B 181 

Vickers,  Prof.  E.  H 410 

Von  Ezdorf,  Dr.  R.  H 151 

Washington,   Mrs.   Booker.  .  .   334 

Weatherford,  Dr.  W.  D 410 

Wilmer,  Dr.  C.  B 410 

Wilson,  Dr.  Warr«n  H 404 

Wilson,  President  Woodrow.  .      11 

Wilson,  Hon.   W.   B 209 

Winslow,  C.  E.  A. 134 

Work,  Prof.  Monroe  N 342 

Zueblin,  Charles 76 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


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